Q. I was wondering when the proposed overtime regulation is going to take effect. I currently work 55 hours a week as an assistant manager in a retail store. But I get paid for just 40. So more than a quarter of the hours I work each week are free labor for my employer. This is awful. I need some relief.

A: You may have to wait a while. The comment period for the proposed regulation ended just this month — Sept. 4. The U.S. Labor Department will sift through the comments from employers, employees and others. Some employment experts don’t expect a new regulation before next year.

As you know, the proposal would more than double the federal minimum salary for overtime-exempt employees such as yourself to $970 a week from the current $455. The raise would be the first national increase in that base wage since 2004. Still, some experts hope the final increase will be less.

If the Labor Department adopts the $970 a week, your boss could still require you to work 55 hours a week or even more, but the company will have to pay you substantially more.

-- Tribune News Service