Back in September, we reported that the Trump Administration had abandoned the appeal of an injunction blocking new overtime rules from going into effect. That action effectively killed the Obama Administration’s effort to update and expand the overtime rule by raising the “salary level test” for executive, administrative, and professional workers from $455 per week to $913 per week. At the same time, the Trump Administration signaled that a scaled-down update of the overtime rule was on the way … eventually.
The Trump DOL issued a Request for Information, soliciting feedback on issues suggesting that the Agency was considering possible changes to the salary level test, the “duties test” and the rules regarding “highly compensated employees.” After the comment period on the Request for Information closed at the end of September 2017, it was widely believed that a new proposed rule would come out by October 2018.
However, the DOL’s Spring Regulatory Agenda, issued last week, pushes the release of any Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the overtime rule until January 2019, another three months later than expected. The delayed release of the proposed new overtime rule and the additional time before it becomes a final rule could possibly set up a scenario where overtime is again an election-year issue like it was in 2016. Employers will want to continue to keep an eye on this long-running saga.