New Overtime Rule Raises Salary Cut-Off to $35,568

Employees who make less than $35,568 are now eligible for overtime pay under a final rule issued today by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The new rate will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. To be exempt from overtime under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must be paid a salary of at least the threshold amount and meet certain duties tests. If they are paid less or do not meet the tests, they must be paid 1 1/2 times their regular hourly rate for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. The new rule will raise the salary threshold to $684 a week ($35,568 annualized) from $455 a week ($23,660 annualized). A blocked Obama-era rule would have doubled the threshold, but a federal judge held that the DOL exceeded its authority by raising the rate too high. The new rule is expected to prompt employers to reclassify more than a million currently exempt workers to nonexempt status and raise pay for others above the new threshold. excerpt from SHRM article dated 9/24/19

Exchange Notice Requirement Under ACA

FLSA section 18B, added to the labor statute by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), requires employers that are subject to the FLSA (most employers) to provide to each of their employees, and to all new employees at the time of hiring, a written notice.  The notice is to remind employees of the availability of the health insurance exchange.  

The notice must be provided to each employee, regardless of plan-enrollment status or part-time or full-time status. Employers are not required to provide a separate notice to dependents or retirees, but an employer's obligation to provide the notice may extend to its independent contractors and leased workers, depending on the nature of their relationship with the employer as determined under the FLSA's "economic reality" test.  Below is a link for a Model Notice that can be used to satisfy the requirement.

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/pdf/FLSAwithplans.pdf