Efforts to Kill or Delay the White Collar Overtime Exemption Continue

The much discussed changes to the so called white collar exemption which exempts certain jobs from overtime go into effect December 1, 2016 unless any one of a number of efforts to stop or delay the rule are successful.

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, there are currently two law suits filed that are attempting to block implementation of the rule change. One is by a group of company and business groups. The second is by 21 State Governments including many from the Southeast. This effort probably has the best chance of a delay by way of an injunction so that a hearing can be scheduled. But if the court decides that the issue is important enough, the docket could be cleared and the hearings proceed well before the deadline. This would preclude the need for a delay.

The other effort is less likely to succeed but nonetheless is being pursued. Late last night, the House passed a bill that would delay the implementation of the Overtime Rules for 6 months. The President has stated he will veto such a bill if passed. The Senate can either pick up that bill or take up its own version of the bill which was introduced yesterday afternoon by Senator Lankford of OK. Since the Senate bill was just introduced yesterday, it is not expected to go to the floor until after the election making the bill largely symbolic in my opinion.

Our advice hasn’t changed. Examine which employees are likely to be affected by this change in minimum pay to qualify for the exemption and determine how you plan to deal with the change. Expect this rule to be implemented as scheduled.

DSF