Future of new federal overtime rules uncertain

Due to a recent federal injunction, proposed changes in federal overtime rules, via the Fair Labor Standard Act, are on hold.

Background

In 2014, President Obama directed the Secretary of Labor to update overtime regulations to reflect the original intent of the Fair Labor Standards Act and to simplify and modernize the rules. These changes were set to go into effect Dec. 1. Days before implementation, on Nov. 22, a federal judge blocked the implementation of the rule, issuing a temporary injunction in response to a lawsuit. The rule, which would have extended overtime eligibility to 4.2 million salaried workers nationally, now is effectively in limbo.

UF response

The University of Florida has been monitoring these developments since 2015, and a workgroup was created early 2016 to draft the university’s response to the proposed change to overtime rules. The university’s official plan was provided in a June 29 Administrative Memo. Since then, with information sessions, training and a coordinated outreach program, many members of the university community have been working hard to implement the changes, as well as inform potentially affected employees, their supervisors and the university community.

Going forward

In a Nov. 28 Administrative Memo, UFHR VP Jodi Gentry announced that the university would delay the planned transition of approximately 1,300 employees to the newly-created salaried nonexempt (SNE) category until all implications of the ruling are fully understood. Any special pay increases that were approved in response to the rules change will continue, and the minimum salary for full-time postdoctoral associates will continue to be $47,476. UFHR will continue to monitor the situation and will communicate any updates to the university community via UF at Work, Faculty Update, the UFHR website and targeted listservs.

For more information, see the UFHR website. Questions or concerns may be addressed to Classification and Compensation in Human Resource Services at compensation@ufl.edu.