In a column for Provider Magazine, labor law expert Brooke Nixon urges LTC/PA care employers that now is the time to address issues related to the US Department of Labor’s (DOL) action to raise the minimum salary level for certain workers and the duties exemptions from overtime and exemptions in care settings. Nixon writes, “”these changes are sure to inspire a fresh round of [Fair Labor standards Act] compliance lawsuits in 2020 for employers that do not address or fail to address them effectively.”

Nixon is a partner at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete’s Birmingham, Alabama office. Read her full commentary: DOL Issues Final Rule on Salary Exemption Levels (providermagazine.com, November 2019)

Background 

The US Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its proposed rule to increase the salary threshold under which “white collar” exempt staff would be guaranteed time-and-a-half pay when they work more than 40 hours in a given week. Providers should review their exempt salaried staff to identify those who could become newly eligible for overtime.

Effective January 1, 2020, the threshold will rise to $684 per week or $35,568 per year for a full-year worker. The current threshold, which has been in place since 2004, is $455 per week or $23,660 per year.

In 2016, the Obama administration finalized a rule that would have doubled this threshold. That rule faced subsequent litigation, during which a judge issued a preliminary injunction and the Trump administration ultimately declined to argue in support of the new threshold. The Trump administration issued a Request for Information to hear from stakeholders before publishing its own threshold.