By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff
A federal judge in Texas placed a nationwide hold on a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulation that raises wages for an estimated 4.2 million salaried workers. Last summer, the DOL raised the minimum salary threshold required to qualify for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “salaried worker” exemption to $47,476 per year, effective December 1, 2016. Currently, management, administrative and professional employees who earn a salary of more than $23,660 per year are exempt from receiving overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week.
The court ruling is consequential since it may provide the incoming Trump Administration with a chance to delay, eliminate or reshape the DOL regulation and include exceptions for small business owners. Legislation has also been introduced in Congress that would phase-in the new salary thresholds over four or five years. These options may be considered in 2017 as a result of the federal court’s hold.
For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein at stuartg@sema.org.