The Department of Labor’s new salary basis rules, which are set to go into effect in December of 2016, permit employers to use bonuses, incentives, and commissions to satisfy part of the salary requirements for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Here’s what employers need to know about this aspect of the DOL’s new rules:
- Employers can use nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, and commissions to satisfy up to 10% (or $91.30 per week) of the new $913 per week salary requirement for exempt employees.
- To qualify, the nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, or commissions must be paid quarterly or more frequently.
- Because the employer can only take credit for up to 10% of the $913 per week salary requirement, the employer still must pay affected employees a minimum of $821.70 per week to ensure the salary basis requirements are satisfied.
- If by the last pay period of the quarter, the employee’s salary plus his or her nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, or commissions do not equal at least 13 times the weekly salary requirement (or $11,869), the employer may make one final “catch-up” payment sufficient to achieve the required amount.
- Any catch-up payment made by an employer must be paid no later than the next pay period after the end of the quarter and must count only toward the prior quarter’s salary amount (not toward the salary amount for the quarter in which it was paid).
Takeaway: Employers may use nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, and commissions to satisfy up to 10% of the FLSA’s salary basis requirements for exempt employees, provided that they follow the above-listed rules.