Salary Ceiling for Overtime Expected to Change

The U.S. Labor Department is expected to propose a rule as early as this week that would double the salary-level threshold at which employers must pay overtime. Under current rule, salaried employees who earn $23,660 a year are eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay. Under the anticipated rule, salaried workers who earn less than $52,000 a year would be eligible for overtime pay.

Such a proposed change would not require Congressional approval. If the rule materializes, it would represent the most ambitious government intervention on wages in a decade. The business lobby is expected to fight the overtime rule.

Perhaps of most importance to Association members is a provision that would affect outside salespeople. In a commentary from law firm Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, attorneys write that the decision before the DOL is an opportunity to harmonize the outside salesperson exemption with the 21st-century realities of the job.

The rule defines the work of an outside salesperson as engaged in sales activities away from the employers' principal place of business. The exemption originated in the 1950s and applied to a far more traditional traveling salesperson. Duties today are more diverse, the firm wrote, and combine travel with teleconferences and online communication.

Inside salespeople are considered non-exempt under the rule. S