Teachers Exempt from Looming Rules
WCRIS principals have been inundating our office with questions about looming federal rules on paying overtime to employees who work more than 40 hours per week and make less than $50,000 annually.
The U.S. Department of Labor was expected to release new overtime pay rules in July (see page 103 of the WCRIS 2016-17 Legal Handbook). But the Obama Administration is moving more quickly than expected and is issuing rules that become effective this spring.
“It looks like the President is pushing to get this done on a fast track. This is sooner than expected,” says Attorney Tom Shorter, of Godfrey & Kahn, the counsel behind the WCRIS Legal Handbook.
“Teachers are exempt,” Shorter noted, advising WCRIS schools to be aware of the impending rule and the teacher exemption, which are outlined on page 3 of this advisory from the US Department of Labor.
For more background information on the issue and why the changes are being made, read the Department of Labor’s fact sheet.