Yesterday, on June 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor released proposed rule changes that would affect whether certain individuals are entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The most used exemptions from overtime are referred to as the “white collar exemptions” and exempt many managers, administrators, and professionals from entitlement to overtime if they are paid on a salary basis and at least certain weekly amounts. The current weekly salary threshhold that must be met to qualify for these exemptions, last changed in 2004, is $455.00 (equal to $23,660.00 per year). The proposed changes would increase that weekly salary requirement to around $921.00 per week, $47,892.00 annually.
These proposed rule changes arrive on the heals of President Obama’s announcement on Monday evening that he wanted to increase the number of salaried workers eligible for overtime from about 8% to 40%, an increase of some 5 million workers. The proposed rule will be open to public comment for some period before it is implemented in its current or revised form. Please let me know if you have questions or issues regarding this or any other topic.