The U.S. Department of Labor issues a proposed rule to increase overtime thresholds from $35,568 to $55,068, after having updated these regulations in 2019.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposal to Define and Delimit the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act, otherwise known as overtime regulations.

AGC of America recently urged the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division to abandon or at least postpone issuance of this anticipated proposed rulemaking. The DOL last updated these regulations as recently as 2019, going into effect in 2020, which strongly suggests there is no need for urgency in issuing more changes.

Specifically, the proposed rule would: 

• Increase the FLSA regulations’ standard salary level from $684 per week ($35,568 per year) to $1,059 per week ($55,068 per year); 
• Increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees from $107,432 per year to $143,988 per year; 
• Extend overtime protections for U.S. territories; and
• Automatically update earnings thresholds every three years.

For more information, contact Claiborne Guy at [email protected]