To recap, persons qualifying for what is commonly referred to as the “white collar” exemptions are exempt from the entitlement to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). White collar exemptions are the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. With few exceptions (like teachers and attorneys) to qualify for a white collar exemption, the Department of Labor (DOL) has required, among other things, positions to be paid a minimum specified weekly salary.
In 2004, the DOL set that minimum weekly salary at $455 per week (which, if one worked 52 weeks in a year, would equal $23,660 annually). That rate remained the same until 2016 when the Obama administration proposed to increase the rate to $913 per week (or $47,476 annualized), with an automatic accelerator built-in for successive years. The change was set to go into effect December 1, 2016.
As employers began preparing for this increase – be it reclassification of positions, increases in pay, changes in duties, or the like – lawsuits were filed contesting the proposed regulations. On November 22, 2016, days before the regulation was to take effect, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered an injunction, stopping the regulation from taking effect anywhere until such time as the litigation could be resolved.
Time passed. A new administration took the helm. The Trump administration was not as excited about the changes as the previous administration, which brings us to today. Continue reading →