Employers across the country can now exhale. On Tuesday, November 22, 2016, a Texas federal court entered a nationwide injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Labor's ("DOL") new federal overtime rules from taking effect on December 1, 2016. The DOL's new overtime regulations, which were finalized in May 2016, would nearly double the minimum salary threshold requirements for the common white collar exemptions from $23,660 ($455/week) to $47,476 ($913/week). The DOL estimates that 4.2 million workers who are currently classified as exempt under the white collar exemptions would be affected by the new rules.

In September 2016, 21 states and dozens of business groups filed lawsuits seeking an immediate injunction to block the new rules from taking effect on December 1, 2016. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant ruled Tuesday that the states were able to show a likelihood of success on the merits of their challenge and irreparable harm if the new rules went into effect and that the DOL exceeded its authority by raising the minimum salary threshold. Judge Mazzant's ruling recognized that the DOL enjoys "significant leeway" to establish the types of job duties required for exemptions, but nothing in the FLSA permits the DOL to classify employees by salary levels. "Congress defined the [white collar] exemption with regard to duties, which does not include a minimum salary level," Judge Mazzant said. "With the final rule, the Department exceeds its delegated authority and ignores Congress's intent by raising the minimum salary level such that it supplants the duties test."

Download the full article, "Burr Alert: Texas Court Blocks New Federal Overtime Rules."