On March 7, 2019 the Department of Labor published a notice of proposed rule-making that would update the previous overtime rule for so-called “white collar” workers. The proposed rule could have effects on landscape industry employers, especially with regards to administrative and sales personnel.

The new proposed rule would, according to DOL, “make more than a million more American workers eligible for overtime.” The current law sets the salary threshold at $455 per week ($23,660 annually), while the proposal would raise that level to $679 per week (equivalent to $35,308 per year).

The previously proposed update was blocked by a federal judge just days before it was to go into effect in late 2016. That rule would have doubled the salary threshold for employees exempt from overtime pay.

Changes in this proposal include:

• The proposal increases the minimum salary required for an employee to qualify for exemption from the currently-enforced level of $455 to $679 per week (equivalent to $35,308 per year).
• The proposal increases the total annual compensation requirement for “highly compensated employees” (HCE) from the currently-enforced level of $100,000 to $147,414 per year.
• A commitment to periodic review to update the salary threshold. An update would continue to require notice-and-comment rule-making.
• Allowing employers to use non-discretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) that are paid annually or more frequently to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level.
• No changes overtime protections for:
• Police Officers
• Fire Fighters
• Paramedics
• Nurses
• Laborers including: non-management production-line employees
• Non-management employees in maintenance, construction and similar occupations such as carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, operating engineers, longshoremen, and construction workers

There will be no changes to the job duties test, and no automatic adjustments to the salary threshold are currently planned.

The proposed rule change will be posted on the Federal Register and available for public comment for 60 days from the date on which it was posted.

Read the full notice.