U.S. Department of Labor Proposes Regulatory Changes
that Would Greatly Expand the Number of Non-Exempt Employees

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued its long anticipated proposal to update the regulations on overtime exemptions for certain “white collar” employees.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, workers are entitled to overtime pay of 1 ½ times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, but there are exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees (among other exemptions). In order to qualify for one of these three exemptions, an employee must meet both a “duties” test and a “salary” test. The new proposed regulations would modify the salary test by increasing the minimum required salary from $455/wk. ($23,660 annually) to $921 per week ($47,892 annually). In 2016, the minimum would be further raised to $970 per week ($50, 540 annually). The salary levels were last updated in 2004.

Check out our newest HRW Alert for more information about how these regulatory changes can affect your company as well as how to submit comments to the Department of Labor. Please click here to download your copy of the full HRW Alert.