The Dept. of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division late last week announced the formal end to a 2024 overtime rule under the Biden Administration that would have allowed millions of additional workers to be eligible for more pay.

The agency said, instead, it has restored the applicable regulations from 2019 governing the exemption of executive, administrative, and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Biden-era overtime rule change never went into effect due to litigation, which eventually saw two separate courts vacate the matter, making the move last week by the Trump Administration a formality.  

“The Department’s technical amendment removes from the Code of Federal Regulations the regulatory language from a 2024 rule that was judicially vacated, and republishes the operative regulations, which were established in a rule the department issued in 2019,” the Labor Dept. said.

The 2024 Biden rule would have increased the white-collar exemption salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professionals to $1,128 per week, and the threshold for the “highly compensated employee” exemption to $151,164 per year.

The restored regulations require that most exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees be paid a salary of at least $684 per week. The regulations also set a total annual compensation threshold of $107,432 for certain highly compensated employees.  

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that its regulations accurately reflect the proper standards and requirements that we enforce,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers.  “It is critical that each element of the section 13(a)(1) exemptions – duties, salary basis, and salary level requirements – be clearly framed for the benefit of both employees and employers.” 

This return to the 2019 regulation is effective immediately.

Comments or questions? Contact Patrick Connole at pconnole@parkplacelive.com.