In a move akin to charting unexplored territories, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Wednesday a forthcoming rule poised to heighten the salary benchmark determining who qualifies for overtime pay under federal jurisdiction.
DOL Rule to Raise Salary Threshold : The Numbers Game
Here’s the rundown: The rule—titled “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees”—aims to adjust the threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act. It’s like shifting the goalposts from $35,568 to a whopping $55,068 annually. To paint a clearer picture, that’s an increase from the current $684 to an impressive $1,059 per week.
DOL Rule to Raise Salary Threshold : The Underlying Criteria
Peeling back the curtain, this proposition targets specific employees—those in executive, administrative, and professional roles. It’s as though they’re solving a complex puzzle, determining who, based on their roles and earnings, can sidestep minimum wage and overtime stipulations.
Earning Percentiles & The Big Picture
The methodology? The DOL’s drawing a line in the sand at the 35th percentile of full-time salaried workers’ weekly earnings in the Southern U.S. Think of it as using the lowest rung of the earnings ladder as a benchmark. For the high earners, the bar rises to $143,988, which is tied to the 85th percentile of salaried workers across the nation.
