Last night the U.S. Department of Labor published the final regulations that will adjust the definition of exempt employment for certain white collar positions by raising the salary level below which workers will be non-exempt, i.e., eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Back on March 13, 2014, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Labor to "restore the common sense principles" related to overtime, and directed the Department of Labor (DOL) to review the exempt/nonexempt definitions and update them if necessary. On July 6, 2015, after much delay, the DOL issued proposed new regulations that would significantly change the law governing certain "white collar" workers who are exempt from minimum wage and overtime pay. 

The proposed regulations primarily affected the salary basis test. The DOL proposed to increase the standard salary level to qualify for exemption from the FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements as an Executive, Administrative, or Professional employee from $455 a week ($23,660 a year) to $970 a week, or $50,440 a year. A major reason for such a jump is that the then-current salary level threshold for exemption of $455 per week, or $23,660 annually, was below the poverty threshold for a family of four. 

The DOL also asked whether the various exempt duties tests should be reviewed and updated as well. But the new regulations do not provide for any changes to these tests.

For More Information Visit:

https://www.sbam.org/Resources/ArtMID/2980/ArticleID/2381/The-FLSA-exempt-final-regulations-are-here