Circuit Court to Hear Overtime Rule Appeal in Early October

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, arguably the most conservative of all appeals courts, announced it will hear the appeal to the injunction against the Obama-era overtime rule in early October. That rule, which raised the salary threshold for overtime exemption to $913 a week, was blocked by a federal judge in Texas just days before it was to take effect on Dec. 1, 2016. The Obama administration appealed, but when the Trump administration took over, the appeal was modified. The Trump people now want to keep the salary threshold trigger in place, but not at the level proposed by the Obama Department of Labor (DOL). The Trump DOL has already issued a Request for Information (RFI) to hear opinions on what the salary threshold should be. The original decision by the Texas judge was based on his finding that the DOL had no authority to set a salary threshold at any level.