For months employers have been anticipating the December 1, 2016, effective date of the Department of Labor (DOL) doubling the salary requirement to $47,476 per year for certain "white collar" overtime exemptions. In response to the DOL action, 21 states filed a lawsuit asking a Federal Judge to delay the effective date claiming that they would be irreparably harmed if it went into effect and the DOL would not be harmed by a delay. Most experts felt that a delay would not result, particularly since the Federal Judge to whom the case was assigned was appointed by President Obama. To their surprise, yesterday evening, Texas U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant sided with the 21 states and issued an order that delays the December 1 deadline for the DOL's exemption salary increase.
Although employers now have time to see what will happen next regarding this increase, many employers have already implemented changes to comply with the anticipated effective date of the regulation. It is not at all certain that the delay will ultimately result in a permanent block to the DOL proposed increase, so stay tuned for further developments. In the meantime, when contacted for this article, the Former Regional Enforcement Coordinator for the DOL Wage-Hour Division, Patricia Slate, stated:
"Whatever ultimately happens to the proposed salary requirement increase, now is still a good time for employers to review the duties of those employees who are treated as exempt from overtime to make sure those employees are otherwise entitled to exempt status."
FYI
To help employers comply with all of the technical wage-hour rules, the K&C Employment Team presented a wage-hour workshop as part of the 33rd Annual Employment Law Update at the Virginia Beach Convention Center on November 17. This program was very well-received, but for those who missed it, the next showing will be on April 20, 2017, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
The contents of this publication are intended for general information only and should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion on specific facts and circumstances. Copyright 2026.
