U.S. Department of Labor Proposes to Raise the Overtime-Exempt Salary Threshold to $35,000

On March 7, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) finally released its proposed rule to expand the overtime protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule would increase the salary an employee must receive before being deemed overtime-exempt to $679 per week – $35,308 per year (and $147,414 for highly compensated employees). The DOL also proposes having these salary levels automatically adjust every four years to prevent the thresholds from becoming outdated. Whatever the rule’s final parameters are, the rule is likely to be challenged in court.