On December 1, 2016 – the day that the Department of Labor’s (DOL's) proposed white collar salary threshold regulations originally were supposed to go into effect – the DOL filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to undo the lower court's decision to issue a nationwide, preliminary injunction that blocked the DOL from adopting or implementing the new white-collar salary threshold regulations that would have essentially doubled the minimum salary requirements for exemption from overtime from $23,660 to $47,476. It is anticipated that the DOL will ask the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the appeal on an expedited basis. It also is possible that, if there is no decision on appeal until after January 20th, the Trump Administration may simply drop the appeal and allow the lower court's injunction to remain in place.
What Are Employers Supposed To Do Now?
Our advice is to: (1) stay tuned to see what happens next with the appeal of this preliminary injunction ruling because it might be overturned, and (2) stay flexible and ready to get into compliance quickly if the injunction is struck down and these DOL regulations actually do go into effect.
