Texas Employment Lawyer
Overtime Regulations
The Department of Labor’s final rule updating the overtime regulations was announced on May 18, 2016. It will automatically extend overtime pay protections to millions of workers within the first year of implementation. The effective date of the final rule was December 1, 2016.
However, on Nov. 22 U.S. Judge Amos Mazzant in the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary-injunction blocking the rule. A notice of appeal has been filed with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by Secretary of Labor Thomas Peretz and representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor aiming to lift the temporary injunction against overtime changes.
Key Provisions of the Final Rule
The Final Rule focuses primarily on updating the salary and compensation levels needed for Executive, Administrative and Professional workers to be exempt. Specifically, the Final Rule:
- Sets the standard salary level at the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region, currently the South ($913 per week; $47,476 annually for a full-year worker);
- Sets the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (HCE) subject to a minimal duties test to the annual equivalent of the 90th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally ($134,004); and
- Establishes a mechanism for automatically updating the salary and compensation levels every three years to maintain the levels at the above percentiles and to ensure that they continue to provide useful and effective tests for exemption.
Additionally, the Final Rule amends the salary basis test to allow employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the new standard salary level.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has published a list of Questions and Answers from the General Information Overtime Webinars to help in understanding the new regulations.
You may also find useful information on these posts; Wage and Hour Law, Employment Discrimination, Sexual Abuse, Texas Employment and Non Compete Agreements, and EEOC Charge of Discrimination, Defending and Resolving.
Board Certified Labor and Employment Lawyer
East Texas Attorney, Michelle Jones is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has over 27 years experience helping employers. If you are an employer in need of a Labor and Employment Lawyer, please do not hesitate to call Michelle at 903-236-4990 or toll-free at 888-236-4878.