New DOL Overtime Rules for 2020 By Samantha Brinkley, MA, SHRM-SCP Have you heard about the new Department of Labor Overtime Rules that went into effect on January 1st, 2020? Over 1.3 million employees are expected to be impacted by the Trump Administration’s new rule, which requires that exempt, salaried employees be paid at least $684 per week, or $35,568 annually. The previous threshold, established in 2004, was $455 per week or $23,660 year. Employees who do not meet the new salary level must be classified as non-exempt and be paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
If you have exempt employees being paid below this amount, your organization has two options to comply with the law:
Step 1.
Raise Salaries. You can raise an employee’s salary to satisfy the new rule and allow
them to remain exempt from overtime pay requirements. For example, if the employee was making $455 per week, they would need a raise of $229 per week to meet the new threshold.
Step 2.
Convert to Non-Exempt. If an employer chooses not to raise the exempt employee’s
wages to at least $684 per week, they can convert the employee to non-exempt status and pay them on an hourly basis. This means they will need to track hours and pay overtime wages at the rate of 1.5 times the base hourly rate for all hours over 40 worked in a workweek.
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