President Obama and Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced May 18, 2016 the Department of Labor’s final rules related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which are soon to take effect on Dec. 1, 2016.

Forbes article by Beth MonaghanAfter that date, the salary threshold for overtime will be raised from $23,660 per year ($455 per week) to the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region, currently the South ($913 per week; $47,476 annually for a full-year worker).

In a post on Forbes.com, Inkhouse Media + Marketing co-founder and CEO Beth Monaghan writes that she applauds the new law because “it’s one that values time and humanity, and one that may bring about the kind of culture that values great work over grueling hours, which by the way, creates better business results.”

Monaghan stresses how this is especially important for industries like PR that rely on creativity to fuel those results.

Citing that the PR profession often ends up on lists of the most stressful jobs, Monaghan says it’s time to stop confusing availability with working around the clock and valuing hours over ideas.

“Somewhere amid the proliferation of mobile phones, social media and 24-hour news reporting, we sacrificed the tenets of creativity to the demands of availability,” Monaghan writes.

She insists that the new overtime regulations present a great opportunity for her profession to make the case for how women can become equal and successful in the workplace.

Monaghan notes that 70% of PR workers are female and they’re probably going to have kids. She cites the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which reports 71% of mothers work and 40% of women with children are the sole or primary breadwinners.

At her own firm, Monaghan has taken steps to foster creativity and help her employees live better lives including, work-from-home Fridays to focus on writing projects, no work e-mailing between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (except for emergencies) and in-office yoga.

“The end result is a much happier, healthier workforce that supports balance, challenges the norm and takes risks – the good kind,” Monaghan writes.