JUDGE BLOCKS OVERTIME SALARIES

In a stunning rebuke to the Obama administration, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas granted an injunction blocking the new salary threshold for overtime pay. The increased limits on salaried-overtime were set to take effect on December 1st.

The injunction prevents the new rule from expanding overtime coverage to salaried employees earning between $23,660 and $47,476 per year. The Department of Labor anticipated that this would spread coverage to 4.2 million American workers.

The Obama administration had sought to increase the salary limits to keep the overtime law current with inflation. In 1975, the salary limits ensured that 62% of full-time salaried workers. Today, the limits only cover 7% of salaried workers. 

Writing for the court, Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that the Department of Labor “exceeds its delegated authority and ignores Congress’s intent.”

Businesses across the nation have already taken action to avoid overtime exposure on December 1st. But for now, the salary limits will remain unchanged.

--Matt Allen