A federal choose in Texas on Friday completely blocked a Biden administration rule that might have made about 4 million extra salaried US employees eligible for time beyond regulation pay.
US District Decide Sean Jordan in Sherman, Texas, mentioned the Department of Labor rule that took impact in July improperly bases eligibility for time beyond regulation pay on employees’ wages relatively than their job duties.
The state of Texas and enterprise teams representing a variety of industries had filed lawsuits difficult the rule, which had been consolidated.
Jordan, who was appointed by Republican President-elect Donald Trump in his first time period, struck down the rule after saying in June that it was seemingly invalid and quickly blocked it from being utilized to Texas state staff.
The rule would have required employers to pay time beyond regulation premiums to salaried employees who earn lower than $1,128 per week, or about $58,600 per yr, once they work greater than 40 hours in per week, starting Jan. 1, 2025, and it had quickly raised the brink to about $44,000 per yr on July 1.
The earlier threshold of about $35,500, which was set in 2019, will now be again in impact.
The Labor Division and the workplace of Republican Texas Legal professional Common Ken Paxton didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
David French, government vice chairman of the Nationwide Retail Federation, one of many teams that sued, mentioned the rule would have curtailed retailers’ capacity to supply larger advantages to lower-level salaried staff.
The Labor Division can search overview of the ruling within the New Orleans-based fifth US Circuit Courtroom of Appeals, which is broadly thought to be essentially the most conservative federal appeals court docket. However the incoming Trump administration might abandon any try and revive the rule.
Federal legislation exempts employees with “government, administrative, {and professional}” (EAP) duties from receiving time beyond regulation pay, and the Labor Division has for many years used wage as one issue in deciding when that applies.
The Labor Division, in adopting the rule, mentioned that lower-paid salaried employees typically do the identical jobs as hourly staff, however work extra hours for no extra pay. The rule additionally established computerized will increase within the wage threshold each three years to mirror wage development.
Jordan on Friday agreed with Texas and the enterprise teams that by considerably elevating the wage stage, the rule improperly jettisoned the duties requirement written into federal legislation.
“The Division could impose some limitations on the scope of the EAP Exemption’s operative phrases, but it surely can not enact guidelines that substitute or swallow the that means these phrases have,” Jordan wrote.