WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration will not press for doubling the threshold determining which salaried restaurant employees are eligible for overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week, according to a report in Restaurant Business, a sister publication of CSP.
The step back from a change avidly sought by the Obama administration could save employers millions of dollars in overtime pay to managers and assistant managers, according to the report.
As of Dec. 1, 2016, businesses were technically required to pay an overtime rate to anyone earning below $47,476 annually, or $913 per week, when they logged more than 40 hours on the job in any given week. But a federal court issued an enforcement stay before the new rule could take hold, in effect keeping employers on the old standard of $23,660, or $455 per week.
The industry is not off the hook. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated that it still might change the rules to make more salary earners eligible for time-and-a-half pay. “The department has decided not to advocate for the specific salary level ($913 per week) set in the final rule at this time and intends to undertake further rulemaking to determine what the salary level should be," the DOL said in a court filing.
Still unclear is how the changes could affect other litigation arising from the Obama administration’s change in the overtime rule. Restaurant chain Chipotle, for example, was recently sued by managers in New Jersey who argued that the new overtime rule was technically in effect and that they should be compensated accordingly.
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