The largest union of federal employees wants the Office of Personnel Management to extend new overtime rules for the private sector to government workers.

Under the new rule published Monday, private sector workers making up to $50,440 annually will be eligible for overtime pay, up from $23,660. The American Federation of Government Employees wants OPM, which administers the Fair Labor Standards Act for the government, to apply that same rule to the public sector.

"The new rule would restore fairness for nearly 5 million workers as soon as 2016," the union said in a statement. "AFGE urges the Office of Personnel Management to adopt a similar rule for federal employees."

"This change is long overdue as it's been 40 years since the salary threshold was last updated, and workers and their families have suffered for it," the union stated.

The new threshold would keep up with inflation and apply to employees classified as "managers."

"AFGE supports the administration's new rule as raising the threshold is a quick way to address wage stagnation and the income gap," the union stated.