On March 8, 2019 the Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making proposing an increase in the salary threshold of employees classified as exempt from overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The new proposals include:
- Increasing the salary level requirement from its current $455 per week to $679 per week;
- Allowing 10 percent of the required threshold to include non-discretionary bonuses and commissions which are paid at least annually, and allow a final “catch-up” payment to be made, if necessary, to make up for shortfalls to the 90 percent of the weekly minimum level paid over the course of a year;
- Increasing the “highly compensated employee” alternative level and standard from $100,000 per year to $147,414 per year; and
- Establishing a process under which it will consider the need and feasibility of making further salary level adjustments every four years.
The next step is a 60-day period for the public to comment about the proposed regulations. After the comment period closes, the DOL must consider all comments and then issue their final rule. The DOL is anticipating that a final rule will go into effect by early 2020.
