The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US Labor Department’s final rule on overtime eligibility isn’t likely to appear before late 2016. This sentiment was reportedly expressed by Solicitor of Labor Patricia Smith at a recent panel discussion. The issue was in the news back in August when the Labor Department opened it up for comments that were due in early September. Reportedly, over 270k individuals & organizations have submitted comments on the proposed change, which was more than three times the number received the last time the rules were changed.
The rule was expected to go into effect by the end of 2015 or early in 2016. However this new report casts doubt on that assumption. Once the final rule is published, employers will likely have 60 days to come into compliance before they become effective.
As previously on this site; Who is and who is not exempt for purposes of overtime pay under the FLSA rules depends on certain tests related to the primary job duties of executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees and the amount that they are paid. This proposed rule primarily focuses on the latter item, specifically updating the salary and compensation levels used to determine who can be considered exempt.
The current threshold is $455 per week ($23,660 per year) while the new threshold would be $970 per week ($50,440 per year) in 2016. To be considered exempt from overtime, an employee must make not less than the salary threshold and meet the tests regarding their primary job duties for that particular category of position.
Read more:
New Rule for Overtime Pay Coming Later Than Anticipate, the WSJ 11/12/15 (subscription may be required)
