Breaking: DOL Proposes New Overtime Rule

On Thursday March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the proposal of a new overtime rule.  According to the DOL press release, this rule would now make over 1 million American workers eligible for overtime.   The new proposal would raise the salary threshold starting on January 1, 2020 to $679 per week, or roughly $35,308 annually.  Currently, the salary threshold is at $455 per week or roughly $23,660 annually.  The current salary threshold has been in place since 2004.

As we recall in 2016, President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez announced an overtime rule that would have extended protections to over 4 million American workers.  They had proposed a much higher salary threshold of $913 per week or roughly $47,476 annually.  This was to be effective on December 1, 2016, however within days of taking effect, a District Court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction on the overtime rule.  In August 2017, Texas Federal District Court Judge Amos Mazzant officially struck down the overtime rule, stating that the overtime exemption threshold is illegal and may not be implemented. 

Stay tuned to myHRcounsel, as we track the updates from this newly proposed overtime rule.