New Wage and Hour Laws Take Effect Soon

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The new Fair Labor Standards Act guidelines for minimum wage and overtime take effect December 1.  The new wage and hour laws will affect many San Diego employers who are struggling to comply with new overtime regulations as well as California’s new Fair Pay Act.  What can a San Diego employer do to reduce wage and hour related litigation and increase profitability and employee productivity in the coming months?

The San Diego employer wage and hour defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm help our clients to stay abreast of changes in federal, state and local wage and hour laws.  Governor Brown continues to evaluate and implement changes to minimum wage standards, and the new federal guidelines have significantly increased the base threshold for overtime across the United States.  There have also been significant changes to reporting requirements associated with the pay stubs of employees and the methods used by employers to track and calculate hours worked and associated income.

The final version of the new wage and hour laws does not modify the existing “duties test” for administrative, professional or executive employees.  In its present form the final rule will require the following:

  • Raise the salary threshold indicating overtime eligibility from $455 per week to $913 per week or $47,476 per year for qualified workers in order to be exempt from new FLSA minimum wage and overtime regulations
  • Strengthen overtime protections for salaried employees who are entitled to overtime
  • Increase the threshold every three years based on indexed wage growth

If the changes exceed what you intend to pay employees who are presently classified as “exempt” you will need to re-classify them as “non-exempt” and evaluate the impact of minimum wage and overtime regulations for those employees.

The Watkins Firm guides our wage and hour clients through changes in associated laws at the Federal, state and local levels.  New wage and hour laws take effect soon so make sure you are in full compliance and ready for the implementation of the new guidelines.

We invite you to contact us with questions or concerns regarding unpaid overtime or wage and hour disputes at 858-535-1511.