More salaried employees would be eligible for overtime compensation under proposed regulations recently issued by the U.S. Department of Labor. The DOL also has warned employers about the improper use of “independent contractors” to evade overtime compensation obligations.
As most employers are aware, certain employees are exempt from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. To qualify for one of the most common exemptions (the so‑called “white collar” exemptions) under current law, a worker must perform exempt duties (such as managerial, professional, or high‑level administrative duties) and must be paid on the basis of a salary of not less than $455.00 per week.
The DOL has not revised the salary threshold since 2004, and proposes increasing the salary threshold to better reflect the impact of inflation over that time (the present figure, for example, is less than the “poverty line” for a family of four).
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