By: Petersen D. Walrod, Christina Jaremus, and Brett C. Bartlett
Seyfarth Synopsis: On May 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published four new opinion letters, covering situations including: (1) whether an exempt worker may perform non-exempt work; (2) whether a bonus structured as a percent of total earnings needs to include an overtime “true up”; (3) whether
Continue Reading US Department of Labor Publishes Three Pro-Employer, One (Somewhat) Pro-Worker, Opinion Letters
Seyfarth Synopsis: A federal district judge has vacated the U.S. DOL’s 2024 rulemaking increasing the minimum salary employers must pay to exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees. That minimum now reverts to an annualized threshold of $35,568, and $107,432 in total pay for the highly compensated employee exemption. While current DOL leadership may appeal, it is highly unlikely that the
Continue Reading 2016 All Over Again: Texas Judge Rejects FLSA Exemption Salary Hike, Restores $35,568 Minimum
Seyfarth Synopsis: The first challenge to the Department of Labor’s overtime rule has landed, but what the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas will do with it and how any decision will affect businesses remains up in the air. As this litigation develops, businesses must still prepare for the upcoming July 1, 2024 salary threshold increase.
What
Continue Reading Déjà vu All Over Again: The DOL Overtime Rule Faces Legal ChallengeBy: A. Scott Hecker and Ariel Fenster
Seyfarth Synopsis: Child labor laws remain fertile ground for government enforcement as evaluate key issues for 2024. Late last year, the Wage Hour Division released guidance for new processes to assess greater penalties against companies who violated child labor laws. Companies should take note of the increased financial risks and overall teamwork between
Continue Reading Child Labor Law Penalties on the Rise – Employers Face Various Avenues to Increased Exposure
Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 6, 2023, the Biden Administration announced the release of its Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division continues to pursue – with frequent delays – a number of significant rulemakings, including the Division’s proposed increase to the minimum salary level for
Continue Reading The Biden Administration Issued Its Fall 2023 Regulatory Agenda – What Can We Expect From the DOL Wage and Hour Division’s Rulemakings?The comment period on the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees,” closed on November 7, 2023, with interested stakeholders having uploaded over 33,000 submissions. Now the Department will need to read and respond in preparing its final rule.
Seyfarth
Continue Reading You Asked for It: U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division Receives Comments on EAP Exemption Rule, Including from Seyfarth ShawBy: A. Scott Hecker
The long wait for a Senate-confirmed U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) Administrator is over! As of October 25, 2023, Jessica Looman has ascended to the top role in one of the Department’s premier enforcement agencies, winning confirmation 51-46. Operating as Principal Deputy Administrator since January 20, 2021, Ms. Looman’s WHD was active even before
Continue Reading Take Me to Your Leader: Senate Confirms Jessica Looman as U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division AdministratorBy: Rachel V. See, Christopher J. DeGroff, and Andrew L. Scroggins
Seyfarth Synopsis: The EEOC and the Department of Labor Wage Hour Division (WHD) have taken an important step toward inter-agency coordination, committing to information sharing, joint investigations, training, and public outreach. The Memorandum of Understanding between the EEOC and DOL contemplates referring complaints between the two agencies
Continue Reading EEOC and DOL Join Forces – What the Alliance Means for EmployersBy: A. Scott Hecker
As one does, I was recently reading U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) Field Assistance Bulletin (“FAB”) 2023-3 regarding “Prohibitions against the shipment of ‘Hot Goods’ under the Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.” You may be disappointed to learn that the term “hot goods” does not appear in the FLSA
Continue Reading U.S. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division Says Cool It With The “Hot Goods”By: Kevin Young, Brett Bartlett, Scott Hecker, Noah Finkel, and Leon Rodriguez
Just days before Labor Day, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) unveiled its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”), aimed at revising the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime exemptions for executive, administrative, and professional employees. While the proposal—the cornerstone of which is a minimum salary
Continue Reading DOL Delivers a Proposed Salary Bump to FLSA Overtime Thresholds for Labor Day