DOL Announces Sweeping Proposed Changes to FLSA Overtime Salary Basis Test

The U.S. Department of Labor issued proposed rules increasing the minimum salary for exempt employees from $23,660 (or $455 per week) per year to $50,440 per year (or $970 per week).  For more information about the proposed rules, go here.

The proposed regulations would alter what is typically called the "salary basis test."  Under current law, exempt employees need to earn at least $455 per week to maintain exempt status. Under the proposed rules, that amount would more than double to $970 per week. In addition, this new amount would be tracked to other increases to adjust over time, and the DOL would be able to update the salary basis amount on an ongoing basis without new rulemaking.

If approved, the new regulations would be a major victory for workers, and would impact millions of low and middle income families current paid on a salary basis who are classified as exempt and not entitled to overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.  It will likely also change the way employers hire and classify workers, and will likely require employers to reconsider attempts to move employees from non-exempt to exempt status.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees are entitled to overtime compensation unless they are properly classified as exempt from such requirements.  Many employees are misclassified or not paid for all overtime hours worked in a workweek.

If you have questions about the Fair Labor Standards Act, its overtime and minimum wage obligations, or any other issue, please call one of our Utah employment lawyers at (801) 758-7604 or visit Stavros Law online at utahtriallawyers.net for more information.

Right to Same Sex Marriage Affirmed by United States Supreme Court in Landmark 5-4 Decision

In a decision certain to invoke heavy debate across the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court held that same-sex couples have a right to marry under the United States Constitution's equal protection clause in a landmark decision written by Justice Kennedy.  Kennedy's written decision, which was joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan, held that the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause prohibits states from denying marriage rights to same sex couples.

To read the Supreme Court's decision, go here.  The decision will have wide ranging impact on tax, estate planning and employment benefit issues. You can also access articles on the decision here and here.

If you have questions about the decision, please contact one of our employment law attorneys at (801) 758-7604, or you can contact us online at utahtriallawyers.net.

United States Supreme Court Affirms the Viability of Disparate Impact Claims under the Fair Housing Act (FHA)

The United States Supreme Court on Thursday held that disparate impact claims are permissible under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, relying on the application of similar language in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), in a decision written by Justice Kennedy.  

The Court's decision in Texas Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. extended the use of disparate impact claims to root out policies and other practices that have a discriminatory impact.  More information on the decision can be found here.

For information about housing-relating discrimination claims, including disparate treatment and disparate impact claims, you can call one of our Utah employment law attorneys at (801) 758-7604 or contact us online at utahtriallawyers.net.