In May of last year the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it would increase the threshold salary requirements in determining whether an employee is exempt from receiving overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL\u2019s final rule affected professional, administrative and executive employees by dramatically increasing the threshold salary from $455per week to $913 per week. It also bumped the salary threshold for exempt highly compensated individuals from $100,000 to $122,148.<\/p>\n
This change in overtime regulations caused alarm to employers as they would have to pay overtime to millions of employees who were previously classified as exempt. Over 55 businesses and more than 21 states challenged this ruling on several grounds in November of 2016, just days before it was set to go into effect. The two groups argued the increase was too drastic and would wrongly reclassify employees performing bona fide executive, administrative and\/or professional work that should be exempt from receiving overtime pay. An injunction was granted to the groups and they continued by filing a motion to have the ruling thrown out deeming it unlawful. On August 31, 2017 the district court granted their motion, agreeing that the dramatic increase would eliminate the ability to properly identify if a worker should be exempt based on their job duties.<\/p>\n