For the last several months, I have been talking to and advising clients on strategies to deal with the advent of the new FLSA salary regulations, i.e. the $913 per week commencing December 1, 2016.  Maybe all that was for naught?  This is because more than fifty business groups and twenty-one (21) States have filed lawsuits challenging these rule changes.  The theory is that the agency unconstitutionally exceeded its authority to establish a federal minimum salary level for exempt, white collar workers.  The cases are entitled Nevada et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor et al. and Plano Chamber of Commerce et al. v. Perez, both filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas

Courthouse pillars
Copyright: bbourdages / 123RF Stock Photo

The States contend that the large increases in required salary levels would force many state and local governments (and private businesses) to dramatically increase their employment costs.  This could compel employers to cut services or lay off employees.  The States seek a declaratory judgment to the effect that the new rules unlawfully violate the Tenth Amendment by requiring a certain mode of payment for state employees.  On that same day, many business groups (e.g. US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation) also filed legal actions, claiming that the reasons proffered by the USDOL for the new salary threshold are not a proper construction of the FLSA.

The states also take issue with the policy behind the rule change, saying a worker’s salary level doesn’t reflect the kind of work an employee actually performs. The states argue the DOL regulation disregards the text of the Fair Labor Standards Act by imposing a salary threshold without regard to whether an employee is actually performing bona fide executive, administrative or professional duties.

The States also assert that the rule’s automatic indexing mechanism, which kicks up the minimum salary threshold every three years would not be illustrative of the nation’s economic conditions or the potential impact on public and private resources.  The plaintiffs contend that by compelling States to spend more from state funds on exempt employee salaries or overtime, the federal government is unilaterally depleting state resources and that violates the Constitution.

The business groups also allege that losing the overtime exemption for “frontline executives, administrators and professionals” would rob businesses of being able to flexibly manage their workforces.  Ostensibly, millions of employees nationwide would have to be reclassified to non-exempt hourly workers, which would result in their hours being cut back to avoid overtime and thereby “deny them opportunities for advancement and hinder performance of their jobs — to the detriment of their employers, their customers and their own careers.”

The Takeaway

The agency has raised the minimum salary level several times, the last time in 2004, without legal challenge, or, at least, a successful legal challenge.  I think the same result will obtain this time.  In any event, every employer should be going through the process of determining, under current salary levels, if all of their exempt people are truly exempt??

Get ready for December 1!