"White Collar" Overtime Regulations Update

It’s been a busy week at the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”).  As we wrote last week, on September 24, 2019, the DOL announced its final rule on the “white collar” overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  The new regulations, which are scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2020, update the salary threshold necessary to satisfy the “salary basis” prong of the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions under the FLSA from $455/week to $684/week (which, on an annualized basis, comes out to $35,568/year). 

Two days later, the U.S. Senate voted to approve Eugene Scalia as the new Secretary of Labor.  He was sworn into this position on September 30, 2019.  Scalia, the son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, is a longtime employer-side labor lawyer.  He is expected to focus on finalizing long-awaited new regulations on topics such as the fluctuating workweek and joint employer liability so that they are issued before next November’s presidential election.

Now that the new Secretary is in place, employers can expect business-friendly developments from DOL at least for the next year.  For any questions about this or any other labor and employment topic, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Hoffman & Hlavac.