Vigilant Blog

It appears that the Obama-era overtime rule that would have nearly doubled the minimum salary for white-collar workers exempt from overtime is now completely dead, thanks to a court decision and a Department of Labor (DOL) legal filing. As we previously reported, a federal district court in Texas put a preliminary hold on the overtime rule, which would have taken effect on December 1, 2016. The DOL under the Obama administration immediately appealed that preliminary decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
 
Meanwhile, the federal district court was considering whether to permanently block the rule. Its decision, on August 31, 2017, was yes (State of Nevada v. U.S. Department of Labor, ED Tex, August 2017). That was enough to spur the current DOL to file a motion with the Fifth Circuit withdrawing its appeal. The DOL may someday issue a new regulation increasing the salary level, but the process will take time and the increase will likely be more modest. As we previously reported, the DOL is going back to the drawing board by soliciting public feedback on the salary level for exempt workers (currently $455 per week under federal law, although that figure is higher in California).