October came and went without any proposed overtime rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), meaning employers are still waiting to see what wage and hour changes the DOL has in mind. We've gathered articles on the news from SHRM Online and other outlets.
October Release Had Been Projected
In its spring regulatory agenda, the department had predicted the release of the proposal in October. The department is not bound by a regulatory agenda prediction, however, and agencies often miss such projections. "The Wage and Hour Division is still developing a proposal updating overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act," according to a DOL spokesperson. "The division held multiple stakeholder listening sessions in 2022, and DOL continues working toward this proposal."
(HR Dive)
Not the First Delay
Once anticipated in the spring, the proposed rule will recommend how to implement the exemption of bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage and overtime requirements.
Most Recent Increase in Threshold for Overtime Exemptions
In September 2019, the Trump-era DOL issued a new overtime rule that took effect on Jan. 1, 2020, raising the weekly minimum salary for overtime exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $684 per week ($35,568 per year). The increase was the first in 15 years, but not as large as the boost the Obama administration tried to roll out in 2016, which would have been to $913 per week ($47,476 per year).
Federal Judge Halted Obama Overtime Rule
Just 10 days before the implementation date in 2016, a federal judge in Texas put the brakes on the Obama-era DOL's federal overtime rule, which would have doubled the salary threshold for exemption from overtime pay.
Duties Tests Changes May Be Considered
While the primary goal of the proposed rule will be to update the minimum salary-level requirement for white-collar exemptions, changes to the so-called duties tests may also be considered. The 2016 regulations were ruled as putting too much emphasis on the salary requirement, which effectively made the duties tests irrelevant. The duties tests denote which employees may be exempt—considered ineligible for overtime pay—and they depend on a variety of factors. Each of the three white-collar exemptions has slightly different criteria for the duties tests.
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