Restaurant Owners Dealing with the DOL Overtime Wage Update: HR Experts Weigh In

Most restaurant owners are now aware that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced one of the most significant developments in federal labor policy from the last decade. Effective December 1, 2016, new regulations governing the "white collar" overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will essentially double the federal overtime salary exemption.

Since 2004, the annual overtime threshold has remained at $23,660 ($455 a week), but the new rule will raise that minimum to $47,500 ($913 a week). While the rule makes no changes in the duties tests used to qualify exemption status for salaried employees earning in excess of $47,500, the rule guarantees time-and-a-half pay to any salaried employee earning less than the salary minimum working more than 40 hours in a week.

According to the National Retail Federation, these new rules are expected to have a substantial impact on retailers and restaurants, especially for managers who are among those most directly…