During a June 7, 2017 budget hearing, Secretary of Labor, Andrew Acosta, indicated that the Department of Labor (DOL) would soon file a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment on the DOL’s final rule, published May 18, 2017, which made significant changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s so-called “white collar” exemptions. If it had taken effect on December 1, 2016, as anticipated, the final rule would have raised the minimum salary level that employees would have to meet in order to qualify for exemption from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually). Instead, implementation of the final rule was halted by Court Order last November, and the rule has been tied up in litigation since that time.
At this hearing, Secretary Acosta noted that it is a “problem” when the dollar amount of the salary level is not updated “because life gets a lot more expensive.” He also testified that the manner in which the final salary level of $47,476 per year “was done created a shock to the system.”
As of now, there is no call to action. Instead, we will continue to monitor this development and provide you with updates as they become available.