HR doorIn a May 19th email to the community Karen Miller described upcoming changes by the federal government to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the law which governs the payment of minimum wage and overtime pay. The most significant change relates to the increase in the salary threshold required to qualify as exempt from overtime pay, which, effective December 1, 2016 will increase to $913 per week.

As a reminder the revised FLSA regulations will require changes for a subset of currently exempt College and Institute employees:

  • Some employees will no longer qualify as exempt from overtime pay and will be reclassified to non-exempt status (and thus eligible for overtime pay if they work hours in excess of the standard workweek (or in CA, the standard workday).
  • A very small number of salaried employees – those whose current salaries are already quite close to the new threshold – will receive a modest pay increase and thus be able to remain in exempt status.
  • In some cases, job duties will be reassigned to better align with the new requirements.
  • And the pay schedule for a small number of exempt academic year employees will be recalibrated from 12 to 9 months.
  • In implementing changes, HR’s efforts are governed by two priorities: compliance with the law and an effort to maintain employees as closely as possible to their current total pay level. Remember, this regulatory change will have no impact on employees who are already classified as nonexempt (hourly), and generally will have no impact for employees who are classified as exempt and already earn over $913 per week.
  • HR will keep the community updated on our progress as we move forward to meet the December deadline for compliance.  In the meantime, if you would like more information about these changes, you may visit the Department of Labor website at https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016/overtime-factsheet.htm or contact Human Resources (802-443-5465) and speak with Perry Richards or Cheryl Mullins.
  • HR will be working with managers and communicating with employees throughout the fall so that all required changes will be in place for the December 1st effective date of the revised regulations.

-Cheryl Mullins

Leave a Reply