Overtime Rule Struck Down
Author: Michael Cardman, Brightmine Senior Legal Editor
November 15, 2024
A federal district court has struck down the US Department of Labor's 2024 overtime rule.
All three key components of the 2024 overtime rule are now blocked:
- The increase in the minimum weekly salary for most overtime-exempt employees to $844 that took effect July 1, 2024;
- The increase in the minimum weekly salary for most overtime-exempt employees to $1,128 that was supposed to take effect January 1, 2025; and
- The automatic inflation adjustments that were supposed to take effect starting July 1, 2027, and every three years thereafter.
The minimum salary now returns to $684 - as it was before the rule took effect.
The DOL may ask the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals for an expedited appeal. But it is unlikely that the incoming Trump administration would continue to pursue such an appeal.
A spokesperson told Brightmine the DOL is evaluating the decision in conjunction with the Department of Justice and "will determine next steps in this litigation."
They added, "Under the Biden Harris Administration, the Department of Labor has been steadfast in using the authority delegated by Congress responsibly on behalf of America's workers. The court's decision to vacate this rule immediately reverses overtime protections for 1 million workers and stops a provision from going into effect in January that would have guaranteed another 3 million workers overtime when they worked it. As long as this decision stands, workers earning as little as $36,000 are no longer guaranteed overtime pay."