The Department of Labor’s sweeping change to overtime regulation is causing employers to pause and reevaluate their balance sheets, experts say.
The new regulation from the DOL increases the overtime salary line to $47,476, up from $23,660, meaning that if an employee makes less than $47,476 a year, that employee is now eligible for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week.
The new regulation from the DOL increases the overtime salary line to $47,476, up from $23,660, meaning that if an employee makes less than $47,476 a year, that employee is now eligible for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week.
In short, the law will impact every industry and every job title. Any employee who falls below the $47,476 salary line will be subject to the new overtime requirement. However, this will play an even bigger impact in Houston, according to Felicity Fowler, a labor lawyer at the Houston office of Haynes and Boone, LLP.
“The Southern region is the lowest-wage census region in the country, which means that because we have the lowest wages, our companies aare going to have to raise more wages if they still want to have employees who are exempt under the (Fair Labor Standards Act),” Fowler said.
Excerpted from the Houston Business Journal. To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).