After much anticipation, on March 7, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its notice of proposed rulemaking, proposing to update, among other things, the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) salary level for the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales and computer exempt employees from $455 to $679 per week. The DOL estimates that under the proposed rule, which would go into effect in 2020, 1.1 million additional employees in the United States may become eligible to earn overtime compensation.

This may feel like Groundhog Day for employers that remember when the Obama administration’s DOL announced a final rule (2016 rule), which set the minimum salary level at $913 per week ($47,476 per year) and required automatic triennial increases to the minimum salary threshold. Dozens of states and business groups requested a nationwide injunction blocking the 2016 rule from taking effect, which was granted days before the 2016 rule was set to take effect. After the change in administrations and while the case was on appeal, the DOL asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to hold the case in abeyance while the DOL issued a new proposed rule.