DOL Issues Higher Ed-Specific Fact Sheet on Overtime Pay

April 12, 2018 (WASHINGTON INSIDER ALERT) - Today, the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued Fact Sheet #17S: Higher Education Institutions and Overtime Pay Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) clarifying some key issues with respect to the application of the “white collar” exemptions to federal overtime pay requirements for jobs that are generally particular to higher education.

Notably, the fact sheet addresses the applicability of the teaching exemption to faculty members who teach online or remotely, agricultural extension agents and coaches. The fact sheet also clarifies and explains the specific regulatory provisions for the special exemption, with a potentially reduced salary level, provided to “academic administrative personnel.”

The fact sheet issued today answers many of the lingering questions higher ed institutions encountered when they were preparing to comply with the DOL's 2016 final rule and questions that have persisted since the rule was struck down by a federal district court.

In response to a July 2017 Request for Information issued by DOL to begin the process of writing a new overtime rule, CUPA-HR, joined by 20 other higher education associations, filed substantive comments with recommendations on DOL’s best course of action moving forward. In the administration’s latest Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan, October 2018 is the projected date for DOL to issue a proposed rule on overtime.