DOL Appeals Ruling in Overtime Case, Sets Stage for Upcoming Ruling

On October 30, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) appealed a Texas judge’s decision to toss out an Obama administration rule that would have nearly doubled the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) salary threshold for exemption from overtime pay. The Trump administration DOL is defending its authority to create an overtime rule, but not the salary limit set by the Obama administration. The agency filed its notice to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and once docketed, the agency — through the Department of Justice — will file a motion to hold the appeal in abeyance while the DOL undertakes further rulemaking to determine what the salary level should be.

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is currently reviewing submissions following a Request for Information (RFI) it published earlier this summer asking for public input on what changes the agency should propose in a new rulemaking revisiting the salary threshold. AGC submitted comments in response to the RFI, advising WHD to update the salary threshold to a reasonable level that makes sense for today’s workforce. AGC will continue to provide input to the DOL on the impact further changes might have on the construction industry and will notify members of any developments.

For more information, please contact Claiborne Guy at claiborne.guy@agc.org or (703) 837-5382.