If you earn more than $23,660 as a full-time salaried worker, it doesn't matter how many hours you put in above and beyond the standard 40 per week: You cannot collect the "time and a half" overtime pay, a crucial benefit for low-income workers struggling to make ends meet, or those just starting their careers with a mountain of college debt.   That's about to change. President Obama announced on June 30 that the Department of Labor (DOL) will propose to raise the salary threshold below which workers must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week to $50,440 in 2016. The new rule is essentially an executive order that doesn't require approval from Congress. It will affect an estimated 5 million workers, many of whom are female college graduates between the ages of 35 and 54.   When former Economic Policy Institute economist Heidi Shierholz analyzed the change in the share of salaried workers who were covered by the overtime salary threshold between 1975 and 2013, she found that those covered by the threshold declined from 65% 40 years ago to just 11% in 2013. Only one increase was made during that time, and its value was eroded due to inflation.   Read the entire article from Fast Company here. Read more!