UPDATE 11/22/16: The U.S. District Court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction against the FLSA overtime rule. The DOL may likely appeal. More information can be found at this time here.
UPDATE 11/16/16: A ruling is expected to be issued on November 22, National Law Review reported. Another hearing trial could be set on November 28 if the motion is denied, NLR reported. This doesn't leave much time to wait out whether the rule will stay in place or not. Thus, it'd be best to prep a plan now for adhering to the rule, slated to go into effect December 1.
Dive Brief:
- The scheduled hearing over the motion for preliminary injunction for the FLSA overtime rule will take place Nov. 16, Politico reported. It is scheduled just over two weeks before the Dec. 1 deadline.
- U.S. District Court Judge Amos L. Mazzant III was appointed by President Barack Obama, who originally called for the rule change, causing court experts to claim that it is unlikely the injunction will pass, Maynard Cooper Gale notes in its report.
- President-elect Donald Trump has not said specifically what he will do about the overtime rule changes, Politico reported. In the past, he has called for a potential small business exemption or a delay for certain types of businesses of the rule's implementation.
Dive Insight:
The Department of Labor’s (DOL) final overtime rule raises the salary threshold to qualify for overtime from $23,660 to $47,476, affecting 4.2 million Americans. An estimated 200,000 hospital workers and 300,000 non-hospital healthcare workers will be directly affected, according to the DOL.
Judge Mazzant consolidated the separate lawsuits from 21 states and several employer groups into one case, which will be heard Wednesday.
The call for preliminary injunction is likely the last stand for opponents of the rule. Bills exist in Congress to delay the regulations, but it is unlikely they will be passed before the deadline. Even if they did, President Obama would veto any such legislation that made it to his desk.
As usual, most experts are advising employers to prepare for the rule regardless of the outcome. That advice has not yet changed, even with an incoming Trump administration.
Armin Moeller, a partner with Balch & Bingham, recently told Healthcare Dive DOL gives employers four options to comply:
- Raise salaries above the $47,476 threshold so that workers remain exempt from overtime;
- Keep wages at the current level and pay workers time and a half when they work more than 40 hours in a given week;
- Restructure workloads and shifts to avoid overtime; or
- Adjust salaries downward to offset overtime costs.
An original version of this article was published on our sister site HR Dive.