Complete Story
07/06/2017
DOL Will Revisit Overtime Threshold
Agency drops defense of Obama administration's overtime rule
Last week, as expected, the Department of Labor (DOL) dropped its defense of the Obama administration’s overtime rule, but indicated it will defend the agency’s right to set a salary threshold on who qualifies for overtime pay in the future.
The overtime rule finalized by DOL last year would have doubled (to $47,476) the salary threshold under which virtually all workers are guaranteed overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours per week. The rule was set to take effect last December, but the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and other business interests, as well as 21 states, challenged the rule and a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction blocking the rule. The Obama administration appealed, leaving the Trump administration to decide whether to continue the appeal or drop it.
In briefs filed last Friday, DOL asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the agency’s legal authority to set a salary threshold for overtime pay eligibility. The agency also submitted a Request for Information to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier last week, seeking public input on questions that will aid the agency in drafting a new overtime rule.
ASAE has emphasized that it is not against increasing the overtime salary threshold, but that creating a “one-size-fits-all” salary threshold for overtime eligibility across the country – inconsiderate of cost of living differences – would not be workable for many employers and, in fact, would harm many affected employees as well.
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta told Congress earlier this year that an update to the overtime rule might be warranted, but that he had “serious questions” about the previous administration’s efforts to double the salary threshold. That “goes far beyond a cost of living adjustment,” Acosta said. He went on to say that an inflation-adjusted threshold would be about $33,000.
This article was provided to OSAE by The Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.
