Overtime Cap Relief Sought

In its legislative request, DoD also asked for changes that would ensure that employees exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act do not suffer a pay cut when they work overtime. Current law sets a cap of one and a half times the GS 10, step 1 rate, which effectively means that affected individuals at or above GS-12, step 6 receive less for working overtime than their basic pay rate. “The prospect of earning less than their basic rate of pay in overtime makes it difficult to attract people into supervisory positions. This inequity also means that some supervisors may earn less than their employees who work overtime,” DoD told Congress. It also noted that special overtime pay provisions for law enforcement officers, firefighters and certain employees of the Interior, Agriculture and Transportation departments already are exempt from the cap. DoD is seeking a government-wide change.