Status

In May 2023, the DOL is expected to issue a proposed rule on the “exemption of bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements” (also known as the “white-collar” exemptions).

In 2016, the Obama-era DOL issued a final overtime rule that would have doubled the minimum salary level for exemption from $23,660 to $47,476 per year. ABC, along with several other business groups, sued the DOL in federal court and succeeded in blocking the rule from taking effect.

In 2019, the Trump administration’s DOL issued a new overtime proposal to formally rescind the 2016 rule and readjusted the salary threshold to $35,568 per year.

Desired Outcome

ABC urges the department to abandon or at least postpone any future overtime rulemaking since it was increased under the Trump administration just three years ago. Further, and most importantly, the department should recognize the lingering economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as inflation, historic global supply chain disruptions, rising materials prices and workforce shortages.