Opening Arguments OA37: FLSA and Exempt Employees, Part 1
Jan 24, 2017
59:23
Today's episode is part one of a two-part series on pending changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). As we've previously mentioned, in 2016, the Obama Department of Labor promulgated new rules requiring that employees who are "exempt" from the FLSA's overtime requirements must earn at least $47,476 per year. A district court judge issued an injunction blocking those rules from going into effect; that decision is currently pending on expedited review before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In this episode, Andrew explains why he thinks those rules are going to eventually go into effect and what that means for employers and employees. We begin, however, with a listener correction regarding the FLSA and tipped employees. As it turns out, Andrew mis-spoke on a prior episode and employers must ensure that an employee's total compensation (including tips) meets the federal minimum wage. After our main segment on the FLSA, the much-beloved "Are You A Cop?" segment returns with a myth about President Trump revoking the commutation of Chelsea Manning's prison sentence. Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas Takes the Bar Exam question #7 about hearsay. Remember that TTTBE issues a new question every Friday, followed by the answer on next Tuesday's show. Don't forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s)! Show Notes & Links
- The relevant provisions of the FLSA for this episode are 29 USC § 207 (maximum hours) and 29 USC § 213 (exempt employees).
- The DOL Fact Sheet #15 referred to listener Victoria McNair is here.
- This is the original rule promulgated by Obama's Department of Labor.
- Here is the judicial injunction blocking the implementation of the rule.
- And here is the judge's decision not to overturn his own injunction after a motion for reconsideration.
- Finally, here's the New York Times story about President Obama commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence.