Obama's overtime rule intentionally extended the threshold to cover employees who were employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capaci

Obama's overtime rule intentionally extended the threshold to cover employees who were employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity. The article mentions that more than 4 million workers would benefit - this was his administration's estimate of the number of such employees that would become non-exempt, used to justify the rule change. The previous salary threshold, on the other hand, was set at a level low enough that any employee earning below it was obviously employed in a non-exempt role.