Current Overtime Law

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that covered, nonexempt employees in the United States be paid at least the Federal minimum wage for each hour worked and receive overtime pay at one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, there are a number of overtime exceptions to this rule. For example, the current law does not require employers to pay overtime compensation to executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees who are paid on a salary basis and receive more than $23,660.00 per year or $455.00 per week, even if they work over 40 hours. See 29 U.S.C. 213(a)(1).   This is refereed to colloquially as the “white collar exemption.”

Overtime Exemption Change

The Department of Labor (DOL) proposes to more than double the salary level that would qualify white collar workers for overtime exemption. Among other things, the proposal sets the standard salary level equal to the 40th percentile of earnings for full-time salaried workers as of 2016, which is projected to be $970 per week, or $50,440.00 annually for a full-year worker. More importantly, in order to prevent the salary levels from becoming outdated, the DOL is proposing to include a mechanism to automatically update the salary and compensation thresholds on an annual basis. The DOL estimates that during the first year alone, 4.6 million currently exempt workers would become non-exempt and entitled to minimum wage and overtime protection under FLSA, without some intervening act by their employers. See Federal Reg. Vol. 80, No. 128 (Mon. July 6, 2015).

Impact on Business

The period for public comment on the proposal closed on September 4, 2015, and the proposed change attracted both praise and criticism from worker’s groups and businesses. The comment period also served to demonstrate some of the confusion that exists under the current regulation such as the mistaken belief that payment of a salary automatically disqualifies an employee from overtime pay; or that if a white collar employee is in fact nonexempt she would have to be converted to hourly pay. See Federal Reg. Vol. 80, No. 128 (Mon. July 6, 2015). The specific impact of the proposed changes on the CSRA is difficult to project, but the potential impact could be staggering for some businesses. The pending approval of the rule would be a good time for local businesses to reassess the exemption status of their employees in preparation for the change, which many believe to be inevitable.

Since the ultimate burden of proof for the actual application of an exemption rests on the employer, employers should begin evaluating the exemption status of employees as soon as possible so that they have enough time to adjust to the proposed rule. While the proposed bright-line salary test is one step of meeting exempt status, it works in concert with the “duties test.” As was previously the case, job titles, descriptions and paying a salary versus an hourly rate are not determinative of exemption status. In order to qualify as exempt under the proposed rule, an employee must not only meet the more than doubled pay requirement, but employees must also continue to meet certain tests regarding their job duties. There is potential for employees/positions that have traditionally been exempt to be treated as non-exempt for the first time in their careers or the history of the position.

Moving Forward

The new overtime white-collar exemption rule will be issued approximately July 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s fall 2015 regulatory agenda.  The DOL may also make some changes to the “duties test,” which have yet to be proposed. The proposed change is particularly relevant in Georgia and South Carolina where the annual pay is often less than the national average. The bottom line is that it matters, and moving forward, employers should pay close attention to employee’s job functions and make sure they brace for the impact of change to their current classification structure. A specific strategy is based on the needs of each individual business, but reclassification will require an effective roll-out strategy for all. As the DOL gears up to double down on overtime exemption, CSRA businesses should not gamble with their economic security. Businesses should be prepared to incorporate a communication plan, maintain proper documentation of the reclassification and schedule training regarding policies affecting employees.

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