Paul DeCamp, a Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC office, was quoted in SHRM.org, in “2016 Overtime Rule on Permanent Pause After 5th Circuit Halts Litigation,” by Allen Smith.
Following is an excerpt:
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a Department of Labor (DOL) motion to halt litigation over the 2016 overtime rule on Nov. 6, making it very unlikely that the rule will ever take effect.
In August, Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted summary judgment to business groups challenging the rule and declared the rule invalid. The court held that the rule, which would have more than doubled the salary thresholds for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions, conflicted with the Fair Labor Standards Act and thus was invalid because it included large numbers of individuals Congress intended to be exempt within the overtime pay requirement, explained Paul DeCamp, an attorney with Epstein Becker Green in Washington, D.C.
However, the court acknowledged that the department has the authority to impose a salary threshold, as has been the case since the 1930s, he noted. But the court held that the department exceeded its authority by setting a minimum salary level so high—$47,476 per year—that it would render more than 4 million people nonexempt who are currently performing duties consistent with exempt status. …
The department appealed the decision and moved for a halt in the litigation “to avoid any ambiguity regarding its authority in this area,” DeCamp said. “By appealing the ruling, the department keeps the option open of having the ruling overturned or vacated, therefore potentially removing a precedent that could serve as a basis for challenging the next overtime rule the department issues.”
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