Thanks to AMOA’s ties to the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO), the association has received an update on the proposed Overtime Rule being debated in D.C. On June 16, PPWO sent a letter to congratulate United States Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta on his confirmation. The letter went on to reiterate the group’s concerns with the Obama administrations overtime rules.
On Friday, June 30, the Department of Labor sent a Request for Information on the overtime rules to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Experts believe the DOL will likely seek specific information on how it should set an appropriate salary level used to determine whether an employee is exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and its new overtime provisions. The request may seek input on other aspects of overtime, including whether the salary level should be updated automatically.
The new rules, which were finalized during the Obama administration, increased the salary level from the current $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year and called for automatic adjustments to the salary level every three years. While the rule was scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the rule. DOL was expected to reply to the injunction by the end of June.