Changes to Fair Labor Standards Act expected to be announced by the Department of Labor in April

Ohio University Human Resources is preparing for the planned April announcement by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) regarding its proposed changes to the overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The USDOL announced in August of 2023 a proposal to increase the minimum salary threshold needed to qualify overtime-exempt workers under FLSA from $35,568 a year to $55,058 annually. After reviewing feedback collected, the USDOL is expected to either announce a revised proposal or finalize the August proposal in April. Changes will apply to overtime-exempt employees doing executive, administrative or professional work as defined by the USDOL. Faculty, coaches and student employees fall into other exemption categories.  

Positions that no longer meet the criteria for the overtime exemption, as defined by the USDOL, will transition to hourly positions. Transitioned employees will switch from a semi-monthly to a bi-weekly pay schedule and will maintain the same rate of pay and leave accrual rates. In addition, hourly employees will be eligible for overtime and will earn one-and-a-half times their rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of 40-hours a week.

The timeline for implementation of any changes announced by the USDOL in April is uncertain at this point but would be no less than 90 days from the date of the announcement. The earliest potential implementation for changes to University positions would be July 1, contingent upon the timing of the announcement and any revisions to the USDOL proposal.

With the anticipated changes to the eligibility criteria, an analysis is being conducted to determine the positions potentially impacted by the updated compliance standards. When new guidance is finalized, Human Resources will work with University departments with exempt administrative employees earning less than the new FLSA salary threshold to determine next steps on a case-by-case basis. Thereafter, the results will be communicated to the impacted employees.

For more information,  please see the Ohio University Human Resources website.

This article also appeared on the OHIO News webpage.