On July 6, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposal to more than double the minimum salary level that white-collar workers must be paid to be exempt from overtime, from $23,660 to $50,400 annually (or from $455/week to $970/week). With a debate centering around if the proposed salary levels are set correctly (and how future increases will be considered), a public forum for written comments is open until September 4th, 2015. The proposed amounts are at the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for US employees, and apply only to non-exempt employees (e.g. any employee not considered “executive, administrative or professional”). If approved, the Obama administration says that these changes would impact nearly 5 million US workers within the first year.