E-Alert Item: Exempt Employees: Government Proposes New Rules for Determining Who’s Exempt from Overtime

For the first time in over 25 years, the U.S. Department of Labor has issued proposed rules overhauling the system for determining which employees are exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed rules change the types of job duties workers must perform to qualify for exemption from overtime as well as the minimum salary requirement. According to the DOL, the impact of the rules will be to increase the wages of 1.3 million lower-income workers and reduce the number of low-wage salaried workers currently being denied overtime pay. In the next issue of California Employer Advisor, we’ll have a full report on the proposed rules and their effect on California employers.