On Monday, March 14, 2016, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) sent the final overtime rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The proposed rule can be seen here. As noted in late November 2015, Solicitor of Labor Patricia Smith predicted that the DOL's final rule on exempt eligibility would be delayed until late 2016, but the DOL appears to be ahead of schedule in an effort to push the law through during this administration. Typically, the OMB review takes anywhere from 30 to 60 days or up to several months. Therefore, employers should expect the final rule to be published at any time in the next couple of months. After the review, the final rule will be published in the Federal Register and take effect within 60 days of publication.
The specific provisions will only be revealed after the rule is published in the Federal Register. A lingering unknown is whether the final rule will implement changes to the duties test for determining if an employee qualifies as a white collar worker. However, employers should now review whether the salaried positions satisfy the duties component of the FLSA exemption and the impact of the significantly increased minimum annual salary.
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