DOL Requests More Time on Overtime Rule Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A decision on the new federal overtime rule may have to wait a little longer.

According to the National Law Review, the federal government has asked for another delay in submitting its final brief to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) final overtime rule, which raised the salary level for the white collar exemptions from $23,660 to $47,476. 

The final reply brief was scheduled to be filed on May 1, after two earlier requests for an extension. The latest request seeks to push the date back to June 30. It is expected that the Fifth Circuit will grant the request, which was unopposed.  

As the legal news outlet reported, the motion notes the request is necessary "to allow incoming leadership personnel adequate time to consider the issues." Notably, the DOL is still without a leader, as President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, awaits confirmation.

As CSNews Online previously reported, on Nov. 22, Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that the Department of Labor exceeded its authority by focusing on salaries to determine whether employees are eligible for overtime pay or not. Mazzant stated that the department should instead examine the duties that employees perform to determine if they qualify as "executive, administrative or professional" workers who are exempt from overtime requirements.

The judge previously declined the Department of Labor's request to put the case on hold pending the Fifth Circuit's review of the temporary injunction.