On Sept. 24, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule that will make 1.3 million American workers newly eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The new Overtime Pay rule goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, and the standard salary level will be raised from $455 to $684 a week, a move that will make all employees who earn less than $35,568 annually eligible for overtime pay of at least time-and-a-half.

The final rule updates the earnings thresholds necessary to exempt executive, administrative, or professional employees from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements and allows employers to count a portion of certain bonuses/commissions towards meeting the salary level. The new thresholds account for growth in employee earnings since the currently enforced thresholds were set in 2004. In the final rule, the DOL is:

• Raising the “standard salary level” from the currently enforced level of $455 to $684 per week (equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker).
• Raising the total annual compensation level for “highly compensated employees (HCE)” from the currently-enforced level of $100,000 to $107,432 per year.
• Allowing employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) that are paid at least annually to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level, in recognition of evolving pay practices.
• Revising the special salary levels for workers in U.S. territories and in the motion picture industry.

GCSAA worked with other golf industry associations including the Club Management Association of America, National Golf Course Owners Association of America and National Club Association in May 2019 to submit comments to the federal docket on the proposed Overtime Pay rule.

The DOL is making available many resources to help employers and employees better understand the new rule.

GCSAA's government affairs department will host a webinar soon to help educate GCSAA members on the new requirements. Please be on the lookout for more information in the Advocacy section of This Week.

If you have any questions, contact the GCSAA government affairs department at 800-472-7878.