March 18, 2024

New Overtime Rules

Dear Faculty and Staff

This week the Department of Labor (DOL) released the final rule increasing the salary threshold for federal overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) from $23,660 to $47,476. Effective December 1, 2016,  employees making less than $47,746  will be “non-exempt” and paid overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a work week.  Exceptions will apply for employees whose primary responsibility is teaching. Overtime pay is equal to  one and one half times the employee’s hourly rate of pay.

Since learning of the proposed change last summer, we have been assessing its potential impact:

  • HR began reviewing all affected positions and gave a preliminary briefing to the President and Cabinet.
  • The Cabinet began to consider impact on university operations and resources required for the different compliance options: (1) pay overtime, 2) adjust salaries to meet the new threshold, (3) limit overtime hours, or (4) a combination of these three options.

Now that the new salary rule has been issued, HR will work with cabinet vice presidents, supervisors, and managers to conduct final position reviews and determine which compliance options best meet university needs.

Thank you for your patience as we waited for DOL to issue the final rule before officially bringing this to your attention. We understand that you will have questions and will keep you informed as we move forward with implementation. Please look for announcements of information sessions, related policy updates, and MyTime training for newly non-exempt employees and supervisors.  You may confirm your FLSA overtime status by reviewing your EWP in Careers.