On June 30, the U.S. Department of Labor鈥檚 Wage and Hour Division (WHD) published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) announcing proposed changes to the overtime regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposal is the result of a 2014 directive from President Obama requiring the Secretary of Labor to modernize and streamline the existing overtime regulations. The NPRM was officially published in the on July 6.
If implemented without changes, the proposed rule would increase the salary threshold for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $921 per week ($47,892 per year). The threshold for highly compensated employees would also increase from $100,000 per year to $122,148 per year. Both thresholds would be adjusted annually based on one of two proposed methods. Although WHD did not propose any changes to the duties tests in the NPRM, it strongly indicated consideration of changes and requested comments on possible changes.
In anticipation of the rule鈥檚 announcement, 51风流 has been advocating on behalf of its members by monitoring the rulemaking process and participating in a cross-industry employer coalition specifically devoted to employer advocacy with regard to the rule. Last year, 51风流 met with the WHD and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to share the industry鈥檚 concerns and will, again, meet with SBA to further share any post-announcement concerns of the industry. In addition, 51风流 will soon survey its members to gather feedback on the specific aspects of the proposal to further assess its impact on the construction industry.
The deadline for public comments on the proposed rule is September 4. 51风流 will submit comments as part of the coalition and/or individually.
For more information, contact Tamika Carter at cartert@agc.org.