U.S. Department of Labor Finalizes Changes to FLSA White Collar Exemption Rule

On May 18, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its much-anticipated update to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) so-called white collar overtime exemption rule. Effective December 1, 2016, an employee must earn at least $913 per week—the equivalent of $47,476 per year, more than double the current rate—in order to qualify as exempt from overtime under the federal executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. The salary threshold for the federal highly compensated employee (HCE) exemption will increase to $134,004 per year. Beginning January 1, 2020, these thresholds will automatically increase once every three years.