Articles Discussing Overtime Exemptions Under The FLSA.

For the first time, a federal appellate court has acknowledged its obligation to give a “fair reading” to all Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemptions, as the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134 (2018). For years, courts have narrowly construed the FLSA exemptions, resulting in many decisions adverse to employers.

It is commonly understood that employees bear the burden of proving that they are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and, to avoid minimum wage or overtime obligations, the employer bears the burden of proving that an exemption to the FLSA applies. One such exemption – common in the transport and energy industries – is the exemption under the federal Motor Carrier Act (MCA). If an employer can demonstrate that workers are covered by the MCA exemption,1 then the FLSA’s overtime requirements will not apply to those workers—with one major caveat.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued an informative “fact sheet” offering guidance on the hotly debated question of employee exemptions for minimum wage and overtime pay obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Fact Sheet 17S details common “white collar” exemptions at the federal level that apply to certain employees at higher education institutions. It breaks down the exemption analysis by common higher education job categories including:

Despite the overtime exemption provided by the Motor Carrier Act, interstate trucking employers who operate “mixed fleets” – those with vehicles both over and under 10,000 pounds – may owe overtime pay to drivers of the smaller vehicles, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled. Schilling v. Schmidt Baking Co., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 23257 (4th Cir. Nov. 17, 2017). The Fourth Circuit has jurisdiction over Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

Employers would be expressly permitted to require servers and other tip-earning employees to share their tips with employees working in the kitchen and other “back of the house” employee, but only when the employer does not use the tip credit and state law would not otherwise prohibit the practice, under proposed regulations published by the Department of Labor (DOL). This is a reversal of the current DOL regulations, which would be rescinded.

There have been new developments in litigation over changes to regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that specify which workers are eligible for overtime pay.4

As my colleague Bill Pokorny reported back on August 31, a Texas District Court struck down the Obama Administration’s FLSA Overtime Exemption Rule, holding that the Department of Labor (DOL) exceeded its authority by increasing the minimum salary for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions to $913 per week. In a (somewhat) surprise move, on October 30, the DOL notified the District Court that it would be appealing the August order.

As darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close[r] at hand for employers to revise their pay practices to ensure compliance with 2018 minimum wage rate changes. Hospitality industry employers may receive from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) a king-size treat, whereas entities may feel tricked by the Minnesota Department of Civil Rights’ interpretation of which employers are subject to the city’s minimum wage ordinance. Employers need not try to scream or start to freeze, because following is a thriller of an update concerning October minimum wage and overtime developments.

The U.S. Department of Labor confirmed on October 30, 2017 that it intends to “undertake new rulemaking with regard to overtime.” While the DOL simultaneously filed an appeal of the district court order holding the prior overtime rule invalid, the DOL stated it intends to request that the Fifth Circuit “hold the appeal in abeyance while the Department of Labor undertakes further rulemaking to determine what the salary level should be,” according to the statement made by the DOL.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) asked a federal appeals court to dismiss its appeal of the court order blocking its controversial 2016 “overtime rule” from taking effect, signaling the DOL’s official abandonment of the Obama-era rule in favor of the agency’s plan to pursue less-drastic overtime reform.

As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, the DOL has asked the Fifth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction invalidating the Rule last November. In a succinct, unopposed motion, the DOL noted that the district court’s final judgment rendered the preliminary injunction moot, citing established Fifth Circuit law for that proposition.

As anticipated following last week’s decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, striking down the Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule regarding the FLSA’s “white collar” overtime exemptions, the DOL has asked the Fifth Circuit to dismiss its appeal of the district court’s preliminary injunction invalidating the Rule last November. In a succinct, unopposed motion, the DOL noted that the district court’s final judgment rendered the preliminary injunction moot, citing established Fifth Circuit law for that proposition.

On August 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment for a diverse coalition of 55 business groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and joined by numerous state governments, challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) redefinition of who qualifies as an exempt employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).1 The decision effectively nullifies the DOL rule in its entirety. Had the rule gone into effect, it would have more than doubled the minimum salary level for exempt white collar employees from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $913 per week ($47,476 annually).

The Department of Labor’s May 2016 Final Rule, which would have more than doubled the minimum salary necessary to satisfy the “executive, administrative or professional” (the “EAP” or “white collar”) overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, is invalid, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has held. State of Nevada v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, No. 4:16-CV-731, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140522 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 31, 2017). This cements the position the court took in granting a preliminary injunction against the DOL last November.

Earlier today, Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued his final ruling in State of Nevada et al. v. United States Department of Labor, et al. Judge Mazzant granted the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, holding that the Department of Labor exceeded the authority delegated to it by Congress by increasing the minimum salary for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional exemptions under the FLSA to $913 per week.