The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) “long term action” regulatory agenda includes an update on white-collar overtime pay eligibility. The Spring 2025 regulatory agenda was released on September 4. This came after DOL pulled its spring agenda last month.

Delay in new white-collar overtime pay rules comes in the context of an ongoing court fight over the current rules. Two cases challenging the rules are pending before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and another is pending before the DC District Court. Plus, DOL (along with Treasury and other federal agencies) face urgency in getting out guidance on rules from the recently-enacted reconciliation bill that are effective for the 2025 tax year. Those rules include a new provision in the law making some overtime pay tax-free. That guidance is expected to come primarily from Treasury, but with DOL the agency in charge of the statute that is used to define “qualified overtime,” DOL could well be pulled into that regulatory initiative, on a priority basis.

Currently, the white-collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA’s) overtime rules applies to employees who comply with a duties test and who earn $35,568 or more annually. This is the 2019 standard, back in effect after a court challenge overturned a new, higher income threshold. In November, 2024, a federal district court overturned the July 2024 DOL final rule setting a new salary threshold of $43,888/year.

Prospects: Any agency’s published regulatory agenda is usually no more than a wish list, with many regulatory projects not meeting the agency’s intended timeline. But, DOL says it is “reviewing the 2024 rule and determining how to proceed.” A new proposed rule could come at any time, although it would appear that it will not be any time soon.

NAIFA Staff Contacts: Diane Boyle – Senior Vice President – Government Relations, at dboyle@naifa.org; Mike Hedge – Senior Director – Government Relations, at mhedge@naifa.org; or Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org.