Saturday, November 26, 2016

Court Blocks Implementation of Revised FLSA Regulations


Employment Law Alert

On Tuesday, November 22, a Federal Court Judge in the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction halting the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations. This decision stops the regulations from going into effect on December 1, 2016.

Twenty one states filed an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction against the Department of Labor to halt the implementation of the revised regulations. The court found that the Plaintiff States who were challenging the law, established that the amendments to the FLSA regarding the salary level and the automatic updating of the salary every three years are without statutory authority. Therefore, the court enjoined the regulations from becoming effective on December 1, 2016.

There will likely be continued litigation and an appeal in this case, so it remains to be seen if this decision will be upheld.  Employers for now can follow the old salary threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 per year for exempt employees. Employers should keep in mind that any employee they classify as exempt from overtime must meet the duties of one of the exemption categories. The Department of Labor will be strictly scrutinizing employees' duties performed to ensure they are properly classified as exempt.

For more information about the FLSA regulations, contact employment attorney Elaina Smiley. Elaina's contact information is listed below.

This material is for informational purposes only.  It is not and should not be solely relied on as legal advice in dealing with any specific situation. 

Elaina Smiley is a Partner in Meyer, Unkovic & Scott's Employment Law Group.

She can be reached at: 412.456.2821 or es@muslaw.com.

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