Tuesday, June 30, 2015

DOL Issues Update on New Overtime Regulations


More than a year ago, President Obama asked the Department of Labor to update its overtime regulations. Yesterday, the DOL finally announced its proposed rule. The proposed rule would extend overtime pay and minimum wage protections to almost 5 million US workers within a year of its implementation. The proposal also includes raising the salary threshold applicable to many of the exemptions from $455 a week to $970 a week. 

The Office of Management and Budget has reviewed and approved the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, but the Notice has not yet been published in the Federal Register.  When it is officially published in the Federal Register, the Notice will specify the dates for the public comment period. The OMB-approved version of the Notice is available for review online at the DOL's website as a courtesy, but does not trigger the official comment period.

With more employees likely to be entitled to overtime, it's all the more important for employers to not only get up to speed on the coming regs -- but also to assess whether non-exempt employees are using mobile technology outside of normal working hours, and whether they are recording that time as work time.

More information about the DOL's announcement is available here.