Proposed Overtime Rule is Dead…Finally
Following a 2024 federal court decision, the U.S. Department of Labor has published a technical amendment to the overtime regulations found in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the Act, for an employee to be exempt from overtime regulations, three tests must be satisfied: the duties test, the salary basis test, and the salary level test. In 2019, the Department of Labor raised the minimum weekly salary necessary to satisfy the salary level test. The minimum weekly salary was raised again in 2024, but only a few months later, a federal court in Texas struck down the new rule and re-instated the 2019 rule. Since that decision in 2024, the weekly pay from the 2019 rule has been the law. The Department of Labor has finally published a technical amendment to make the text match the law in effect. The 2024 court decision and the new technical amendment do not affect states that already have a higher minimum requirement, nor do they preclude raising the minimum salary requirement at a later date.
The author thanks summer legal clerk Caitlyn Bell for her helpful research and drafting assistance.