I suspect you have all heard by now, but on September 5, 2017, Judge Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas declared the proposed overtime overhaul regulations to be invalid. As a result, the minimum salary levels remain as before the revisions -$23,600 annually, or $455 per week. For highly compensated employees, the amount will remain at $100,000 annually.

I know what you’re thinking – I did all that work and preparation for nothing!?  Fear not!  With a few exceptions, this was actually a good exercise for many employers who, upon doing an internal audit, discovered that based on the duties test, some employees were likely misclassified. Remember, you can never err by paying overtime, only by not paying overtime if the employee is entitled to it. Accordingly, I’d caution advisers to hesitate before reverting an employee back to exempt (no matter how bad they want it to) without really performing an exempt analysis of the position.

So, now what happens?  The U.S. Department of Labor has moved to withdraw its Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals case, and will not appeal the Order. Instead, it has noted its intention to revisit this entire issue, and is seeking public comments on changes to consider making in the future. For employers, continue to evaluate positions as you have been before the revisions, although it wouldn’t hurt to look especially carefully at positions whose annual salary is less than $47,476.