Paralegals Status Under New DOL Overtime Regulations

On March 28, 2003, the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) asked for public comment on its proposed rule changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). These changes would potentially affect a significant number of people. DOL documentation under occupation code 234 (legal assistants) shows 144,284 hourly and 210,917 salaried positions, for a total of 355,201 paralegals impacted by the rules changes. It would seem logical to presume there would be much interest in, and comments on, these proposed new regulations. However, that was not the case.

During the comment period 75,280 comments were received. Of these, over 90% were form letters generated by AFL-CIO affiliates expressing general opposition. This left approximately 600 substantive comments, with only a handful from individual paralegals, paralegal groups and associations. At the national level, The National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA) did not submit comments, while the Federation of Paralegal Associations, Inc.