The White House and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) have recently proposed a new rule for updating the overtime pay protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “to ensure that the FLSA’s intended overtime protections are fully implemented.”
The White House & DOL have recently proposed a new rule for updating overtime laws, a Los Angeles employment lawyer explains. Here’s a closer look at the proposed rule.
Announced at the end of this past June – and published in the Federal Register at the beginning of July, the proposed rule would be the first update the FLSA has had regarding overtime pay in more than a decade. And, it would update an exception to overtime eligibility that was originally intended for “highly-compensated executive, administrative, and professional employees” but that now is being applied “to workers earning as little as $23,660 a year.”
As the DOL has noted, this proposed rule “is a critical first step toward ensuring that hard-working Americans are compensated fairly and have a chance to get ahead.”
Eloquently explaining the importance of this new rule, President Barack Obama has stated:
We’ve got to keep making sure hard work is rewarded. Right now, too many Americans are working long days for less pay than they deserve. That’s partly because we’ve failed to update overtime regulations for years — and an exemption meant for highly paid, white collar employees now leaves out workers making as little as $23,660 a year — no matter how many hours they work… That’s how America should do business. In this country, a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. That’s at the heart of what it means to be middle class in America.
Key Aspects of the Proposed New Rule for the FLSA & Overtime Pay
While the proposed new rule for overtime includes a number of fine points, some of its essential elements include:
- Setting the standard salary bar at “the 40th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers” – This works out to $921/week or $47,892/year.
- Upping the annual compensation requirement that exempts “highly compensated employees” to $122,148 – This is roughly equal to the 90th percentile of weekly income for full-time, salaried employees.
- Setting up “a mechanism” for regularly and automatically upping the compensation levels moving forward “to ensure they will continue to provide a useful and effective test for exemption.”
While the public comment period for this proposed new rule closed earlier this month, there will likely be updates soon from the White House and the DOL regarding any revisions (based on public feedback) to the rule.
As more news about this issue/rule becomes available, we’ll report the latest updates to you here. Until then, post your comments and opinions on our Facebook & Google+ pages.
Contact a Los Angeles Employment Lawyer at Urbanic & Associates
Has your employer failed to pay you overtime and/or minimum wage? If so, you can turn to Los Angeles employment lawyer at Urbanic & Associates for help defending your rights and pursuing justice. Since 2000, our lawyers have been dedicated, aggressive advocates for our clients, helping them fight to protect their rights and obtain the compensation and justice they deserve when these rights have been violated.
To talk about your potential case and your options for justice, call (310) 216-0900 or send our firm an email using the contact form on this page.
From our offices based in Los Angeles, Attorney James Urbanic provides superior representation to clients throughout Los Angeles County and southern California, including (but not limited to) those in Glendale, Burbank, Alhambra, Van Nuys, Santa Monica and Orange County.
