July 17, 2015 Sachi Barreiro
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor announced its plans to establish a new rule that would allow millions of additional workers to earn overtime. Following an executive order by President Obama, who has advocated for increasing the wages of middle-class workers, the Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would increase the minimum salary necessary for a worker to qualify as exempt from the overtime rules.
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, all employees must receive overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week, unless they are exempt from the overtime rules. The most common exemptions are the so-called "white-collar" exemptions for certain professional, managerial, and administrative workers. To qualify as exempt under these categories, a worker must make a minimum weekly salary. Currently, the minimum is $455 per week, which is the equivalent of $23,660 per year.
The new rules would increase the minimum weekly salary to $970 per week, which is roughly $50,440 per year. This would make a large number of lower-paid managers, professionals, and administrative employees eligible for overtime pay. For example, a retail store manager who makes $30,000 and works 50 hours a week will now receive overtime pay for those ten extra hours.
Until now, increases to the minimum salary have been infrequent, the last time being in 2004. The new rules would automatically adjust the minimum salary for inflation in the future. This would prevent the exemption requirements from becoming outdated and ensure that receiving overtime is the rule, rather than the exception, for most workers.
The Department of Labor will be accepting comments on the proposed regulations until September 4, 2015. Absent any challenges from Congress, the new rules could go into effect as early as next year.
For more information on the professional, administrative, and executive exemptions, including additional requirements that must be met, see Understanding the "White-Collar" Exemptions.
exempt employee, FLSA, overtime
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