Overtime Rule Reversed

Last week, a federal judge blocked The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new federal overtime rule.

The DOL’s changes would have raised the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (FLSA’s) salary threshold for exemption from overtime pay from the $23,660 to $47,476, affecting 4.2 million U.S. workers. The DOL had issued the final update to this proposed overtime rule, which was a revision to the FLSA, in May.

The federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the DOL’s authority to raise the salary threshold. Businesses and employees may continue to follow the current overtime regulations, and are no longer required to make any changes by December 1st.

This ruling, however, is not a final decision and does not put an end to this overtime rule. The preliminary injunction will preserve the current rules until the court has a chance to further review the ruling. The DOL can also challenge the ruling, and is currently reviewing their legal options. In addition, upcoming changes to the White House staff could impact the final outcome of this ruling as well.

Employers should still have a plan to move forward with the proposed changes, if necessary, in the future.

 

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