Workweeks of 41 Hours or More and Premium Pay.

The survey conducted in May, 1975 by the Bureau of Census showed that both the number of employees working more than the standard 40-hour workweek and the number receiving premium pay for hours in excess of the standard were substantially fewer than in the previous year. About 14.1 million wage and salary employees worked overtime in May, 1975 (down 2 million from 1974) and about 5.1 million of them (down 1.6 million from 1974) received overtime pay for those hours. The changes were linked to the decline in economic activity beginning in late 1973. The goods industries, accounting for about two-fifths of all employees on extended workweeks in May, 1973, sustained about four-fifths of the employee reduction on long weeks in the following two-year period. In the automobile industry, employees on overtime declined by approximately 70 percent. Overall, the proportion of workers on overtime who received premium pay declined from about 43 percent in 1973 to 36 percent in 1975. Blue-collar workers were more than three times as likely as white-collar workers to receive premium pay. Among overtime workers employed in May, 1975 who received overtime pay, about 70 percent were union members and 30 percent were non-union. (EA)