Labor Department Appeals Overtime Rule Injunction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days after a federal judge put the implementation of a new federal overtime rule on hold, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has appealed the decision.

The legal challenge came on Dec. 1, the same day the rule would have gone into effect.

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and other department officials filed a notice of appeal with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to defend an Obama Administration rule requiring employers to start paying overtime to workers earning salaries of less than $47,476 a year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The change in the overtime pay regulation was met with opposition from retailers, businesses and officials across the United States.

On Nov. 22, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant agreed with the opposition's challenge that the new rule is unlawful and granted their motion for a nationwide injunction, as CSNews Online previoulsy reported.

In September, Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Eastern Texas, urging it to block implementation before the regulation went into effect on Dec. 1. Nevada was joined by 20 other states in the challenge.

The Obama Administration unveiled the new rule in May. The most notable change announced will be a nearly doubling of the current salary threshold from its current $23,360 to $47,476, under which virtually all workers will be eligible for time-and-a-half pay. This change would make nearly 5 million currently exempt employees eligible nationwide.

On Sept. 20, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a legal challenge to the overtime rule, arguing that the DOL exceeded its statutory authority in issuing the regulation and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The U.S. Chamber led a broad coalition including the Texas Association of Business, National Automobile Dealers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, National Association of Wholesaler Distributors, National Federation of Independent Business, National Retail Federation, and more than 50 other national and Texas business groups.

The two lawsuits were later consolidated.