The Department of Labor (DOL) is poised to announce a new overtime rule sometime soon. This new rule will increase the number of employees eligible to earn overtime pay. We've broken it down for you here.
PROPOSED OVERTIME RULE EXPECTED SOON
"With the publication of a proposed overtime rule expected as soon as next month, employment law attorneys are anticipating that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will recommend higher salary level thresholds for the white-collar exemptions to the rule. If so, more people will be eligible for overtime pay.
"President Biden is forcefully committed to improving standards of living for the working middle class," said Steven Suflas, an attorney with Ballard Spahr in Salt Lake City and Mount Laurel, N.J. "Employers should expect a proposed salary amount that at least approximates the amount proposed in 2016," which ultimately was blocked by a judge just 10 days before it would have been implemented, said Alfred Robinson Jr., an attorney with Ogletree Deakins in Greenville, S.C. The proposed minimum salary level for the Fair Labor Standards Act's executive, administrative and professional exemptions thus could be $913 per week or $47,476 per year, if not more, he predicted." Learn more
HOW CAN EMPLOYEES PREPARE?
"This spring, employers are expecting to learn about the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL's) proposed changes to the overtime rule. It's anyone's guess how high the DOL may want to raise the salary level threshold for the white-collar exemptions to the rule, but it could be quite high.
The reason for delays in releasing the proposed rule is unclear, as well. Some think it might be an indication that changes to the duties tests for exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will be recommended. The rule update was first announced in spring 2022. The most recent regulatory agenda then stated the proposed rule will be released in May. The department is not required to release the proposed rule by then, however, and regulatory agenda projections for the release of rules are often missed.
"With inflation being what it is, and so many states having minimum hourly wage rates that far exceed the FLSA rate, I think it is likely we will see some aggressive increases proposed by the Biden DOL," said Jim Coleman, an attorney with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete in Fairfax, Va. That would result in significantly more workers qualifying to earn overtime pay, noted Jeff Ruzal, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green in New York City." Learn more
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