FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS DOL OVERTIME RULE SHORTLY BEFORE EFFECTIVE DATE
Two weeks ago we warned readers to prepare for a new Department of Labor (DOL) rule on overtime pay, set to go into effect on Dec. 1.
However, a federal judge in Texas has blocked the rule in a recent decision (from the link, see State of Nevada, et al v. United States Department of Labor, et al) that took the side of 21 states and a coalition of business groups who had challenged it.
The rule focuses on salary and compensation levels needed for executive, administrative, and professional workers to be exempt from overtime pay.
It raises the dollar threshold from the current $23,600 to $47,476.
NationalLease’s Jane Clark recently said, “The mostly likely place where fleets will see this play out is with their administrative and professional staff and people like dispatchers, clerks, etc.”
However, in the case before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Judge Amos Mazzant found federal law does not allow the DOL to determine workers eligible for overtime based on salary levels alone.
Mazzant, an appointee of President Barack Obama, writes, “The state plaintiffs have established a prima facie case that the [DOL’s] salary level under the final rule and the automatic updating mechanism are without statutory authority.”
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) praised the ruling, stating that doubling the dollar threshold would have forced salaried professionals to be treated like hourly employees.
ATA President and CEO Chris Spear says, “In the trucking industry, the rule change would have affected countless salaried dispatchers and other managers who need the flexibility to work as the need arises, in response to unpredictable operational demands.” The DOL strongly disagreed with the decision and is considering its options.
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