The Obama administration announced that the U.S. Department of Labor will propose a new rule that would extend overtime pay for up to five million American workers.

A number of salaried workers who currently earn over $23,660 cannot claim overtime, however, under the proposed rule, the threshold would be raised to $50,440 per year for workers who are exempt from overtime benefits.

"Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve," President Obama wrote in an op-ed for The Huffington Post. "That's partly because we've failed to update overtime regulations for years."

He continued, "This week, I'll head to Wisconsin to discuss my plan to extend overtime protections to nearly five million workers in 2016, covering all salaried workers making up to about $50,400 next year. That's good for workers who want fair pay, and it's good for business owners who are already paying their employees what they deserve."

Labor Department Secretary Thomas Perez added that the proposal "goes to the heart of what it means to be middle class in America," according to USA Today.

Although the proposal would grant millions of workers bigger paychecks, Republicans and business groups have rallied against it, arguing that it will hurt businesses, force employers to reduce overtime hours and possiblity increase the rate of unemployment.

"Instead of working in a bipartisan way to streamline and modernize regulations," the Obama administration is "proposing a new executive order that will limit opportunities and increase costs," said Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

In addition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned that the changes could be costly for employers, and even threaten benefits and schedule flexibility.

"There will be an additional cost for employers. From the employee point of view, it's really viewed as a matter of equity and ensuring the labor market is valuing people's time. Part of the idea here is if you really need that many hours of work, maybe hire additional people and not have them work overtime," said Elon Law Associate Professor Eric Fink during an interview with FOX8.

The National Retail Federation also released a statement criticizing the proposal, stating, "Overtime expansion would drive up retailers' payroll costs while limiting opportunities to move up into management."