A Moving Target: The Not So Final Overtime Rule

 On November 22, 2016, a federal judge for the Eastern District of Texas issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing and enforcing its revised white collar overtime regulations on a national basis—sending ripples throughout the employer community. Since then, many employers—some of whom had already prepared to comply with the new regulations and were ready to roll out new payroll practices—have been wondering what to do. Should employers hold off on implementing the overtime regulations or press forward?

Uncertain Next Steps

The short answer for employers is that while this injunction is in effect, employers are not required to pay overtime in accordance with the new rules. But, the injunction is only temporary. The next step is for the judge to consider whether to make his ruling permanent. He can do so by vacating the new overtime rules—i.e., rendering the new rules a nullity as if they had never been