New DOL Overtime Rule Expected January 2019

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM):

“The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) intends to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to announce a new proposed salary threshold for the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (FLSA’s) white-collar exemption from overtime pay—but likely not until January 2019.

A halted 2016 rule would have doubled the salary threshold, but the new proposal is expected to be less sweeping. The new rule will likely be more accepted by the business community, said Eric Magnus, an attorney with Jackson Lewis in Atlanta.

The DOL said its decision will be informed by the comments the department received from its July 2017 request for information that solicited input from the public.

[…]

Once the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is issued, the public will be able to submit comments about the proposal. Employers can make their views are known by providing comments either directly or through their professional associations. ‘Telling the department about the dollars and cents impact is important,’ [Lee Schreter, an attorney based in Atlanta] said.

Acosta has made a point to have ‘listening sessions’ with many different stakeholders, including employees and employers. Hopefully the DOL will weigh everyone’s input and arrive at something that is workable for employers and also recognizes a need to raise the salary threshold to some extent, Schreter added.”

While the SHRM article is behind a paywall, ANCOR members will find similar content available in this American Banking Association blog post.

ANCOR has long been active on the DOL Overtime Rule. In 2016, ANCOR successfully campaigned the Department of Labor to take into account the unique wage constraints faced by I/DD providers that rely on fixed Medicaid rates. I/DD providers were the only employer group to receive a three-year non-enforcement respite period. ANCOR also issued comments on the aforementioned 2017 notice for proposed rulemaking, and made a template for members to be able to do so on their own as well.