DOL challenges court’s freeze of overtime rules

The DOL has announced it is appealing a recent federal district court ruling that blocked the DOL’s new rules that would have significantly raised minimum salary levels for “white collar” workers who are exempt from overtime. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has approved an expedited appeal. As we reported in an Alert on November 22, 2016, the federal district court issued a preliminary injunction preventing the DOL from implementing and enforcing their new salary requirements. The DOL had attempted to increase the standard salary level for the overtime exemptions from $23,660 to $47,476. We will continue to closely monitor this case and report any new developments.