Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overtime Exemption Regulation
Updated as of October 25, 2019
On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the final rule
increasing the salary threshold for white-collar exemptions to the federal overtime pay
requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act to $35,568. As a result, some staff
positions that are currently classified as exempt from overtime will need to be reclassified
as nonexempt under the new regulations. Per the FLSA requirements, a position must
meet both the salary threshold and the duties test to be considered exempt from overtime
eligibility. Employers must be in compliance with the new rule by January 1, 2020.
Human Resources has a project team that is charged with managing this implementation,
including communication to impacted departments and employees.
Overview of FLSA Overtime Impact to Murray State University
In May 2016, the Department of Labor revised the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requiring
organizations to review position classifications to determine overtime eligibility. At
that time, Human Resources completed a review of exempt-level positions and classified
each position according to the FLSA requirements. Based on the final determination
some positions were reclassified and became eligible for overtime effective November
12, 2016.
On November 22, 2016, a U.S. district court judge from Texas issued a preliminary
injunction postponing the effective date of the overtime rule. Despite the court ruling
halting the FLSA changes, Murray State University maintained the course of action
that went into effect November 12, 2016. The University continued to closely monitor
the issue while awaiting the court’s final decision.
In spring 2017, Murray State University made the decision to set an institutional salary threshold of $30,000 for exempt positions. Per the FLSA requirements, a position must meet both the salary threshold and the duties test to be considered exempt from overtime eligibility. Effective July 1, 2017 positions that met both the institutional threshold and the FLSA duties test were reclassified from non-exempt to exempt.
On September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the final rule increasing the salary threshold for white-collar exemptions to the federal overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act to $35,568 effective January 1, 2020.