Beginning December 1, 2016, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) will begin enforcing a new rule that will radically change overtime pay requirements throughout the country. The Final Rule, officially called “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees,” is projected to make around 4.2 million salaried workers suddenly eligible for premium overtime pay.
The Rule will substantially change the way employers and their payroll professionals must track workers’ number of hours and pay. It will likely lead to increased baseline salaries for a number of lower-level white collar workers. It will also result in mandated 40-hour work weeks for a number of others. While this new Rule has big implications for many U.S. employers, it does not greatly impact most agricultural employees. That is because most farm employers are exempt from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The new Rule does not change these exemptions.
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