The New Federal Overtime Rules: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again (Almost)

Some employers may be feeling the strange sensation that they had experienced new overtime rules in a past life. But no need to consult with a psychic. You did experience new overtime rules – in this life, and only three years ago. Now it’s déjà vu all over again.Obama-era Overtime Rule Proposal 

During the later years of the Obama administration, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) opened a rulemaking proceeding to modify the minimum salary required for employees to qualify for most of the white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For restaurant industry employers, these exemptions include, among others, the executive exemption, which is often applied to restaurant managers and assistant managers.    

Under the final regulations issued in 2016, the minimum salary would have more than doubled – from $455 a week to $913 a week. Some other changes were also made, one of which was to set up an automatic indexing of the salary level every…