The United States Department of Labor is contemplating a change that could affect overtime laws for workers in Texas. The Fair Labor Standards Act has set a threshold salary below which workers must be paid overtime for working more than 40 hours in a week. The DOL intends to raise the threshold amount but has pushed back the change until March 2019.
The current threshold salary is $23,660 a year. Efforts during the Obama administration failed to raise the nonexempt level to $47,476. The current DOL intends to raise the threshold to between $30,000 and $35,000. However, some experts believe that the current delays could lead to a chain of events that ultimately puts the $47,476 level into effect.
There is an appeal out of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals pending that has not been pursued as the DOL works on adopting new regulations. The appeal was filed while President Obama was still in office.
Another issue that is being reviewed by the DOL is the joint employment regulation under the FLSA. This regulation creates joint liability for multiple agencies in regard to employment law violations. Many believe that the law on this issue is unclear.
An attorney with experience in employment litigation may be able to assist an employee who has not been adequately compensated based on federal wage and hour laws. Nonexempt employees are entitled to receive overtime for every hour worked beyond a 40-hour work week. Some employers have tried to get around this requirement by misclassifying employees to pay them less or asking workers to work off the clock. These are both illegal practices.
