The Trump Administration Finally Kills The Obama-Era Overtime Rules

The Obama-era Department of Labor (DOL) issued two new rules that would have doubled the salary threshold required to be eligible for Administration overtime pay from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year as well as automatically update the salary threshold every three years instead of requiring DOL to review and revise the salary threshold on its own.

However, in May 2017, the Trump administration withdrew these rules and has delayed any further action on this matter pending further review. We will keep you posted on any changes or future developments. Stay tuned!

Before the Final Rule

On May 18, 2016, President Obama announced that the Department of Labor would issue a final rule to update overtime regulations and dramatically extend coverage. On May 25, 2017, President Trump’s Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta announced that the agency will not be moving forward with this rule change. After the new regulations had gone through notice and comment periods,

the public hadn’t been given enough time to adjust to them. Secretary Acosta wrote in a blog post on his website that he carefully considered all of these concerns before deciding not to move forward with updating the rules – likely because this would cause employers to cut hours for workers or raise prices.

Now, with a new administration and Secretary of Labor, DOL is looking at overtime regulations again. On March 7, 2017, DOL issued a Request for Information seeking input on updating overtime regulations. What should be included in an updated rule? How should it work?

One thing that many expect is that DOL will make changes to how highly paid employees are classified as exempt from receiving overtime pay. Should they have to pass a salary test or another test instead? And do those tests still make sense today? These are all questions that we’re likely to see answered soon. Stay tuned!

After the Final Rule

Yesterday, on May 22nd, the United States Department of Labor’s Final Rule that would have raised the overtime salary threshold from $23,660 to $47,476 and greatly benefited the working class was killed.

This ended months of waiting for those who support the idea and trying to understand what happened with it. Now that it has finally been killed by the Trump administration in a direct move against what they say is an excessive government overreach, many are wondering if this will be revisited by a different president later on. Will anyone have time to bring back these protections before 2020? Is there anything else we can do?

President Donald Trump and his administration have actively worked to dismantle Barack Obama’s policies, especially ones that involved environmental protection and regulations for large corporations. With worker’s rights also being a priority for Obama,

it came as no surprise when he signed an executive order in 2016 that would require companies to pay employees overtime if they made less than $47,476 per year. This was one of several rules set in place by his administration that protected workers who were not given proper compensation by their employers. For workers who are subject to working overtime on a consistent basis, these protections are vital so that they can support themselves and their families.

Just One More Thing…

It may be hard to believe, but the Government has not been totally stagnant since the last election. President Obama’s Department of Labor (DOL) introduced two new rules that would have meant an increase in minimum wage for employees and new protections for employees who make a fixed salary that is currently at or below $47,476 a year. As of December 1st, these provisions will no longer go into effect. This was made possible through the congressional Joint Resolution passed on May 18th.

Mere weeks after Mr. Trump’s election win in November 2016, his transition team already contacted multiple Congressmen and top administration officials requesting they repeal several key components of Mr.

Mr. Trump’s personal view on many of these issues remains unclear. Although he did speak in favor of a higher minimum wage during his campaign, he flip-flopped on several important workplace regulations, including those related to labor laws and overtime.

However, he has been vocal about his distaste for government intervention and how it holds back businesses from reaching their true potential, so we can expect to see an overhaul of many other rules over time as well. What is clear is that Mr. Trump believes that business needs more freedom in order to be successful than what is currently available in most Western countries, where workers are more protected by regulation than they are here at home.

Keep browsing Law Scribd  for more updates.