Federal DOL to Conduct Overtime Rule Listening Session in D.C., on October 17, 2018

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will be conducting a listening session in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, to gather additional views concerning potential revisions to the white-collar exemption regulations under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

The upcoming session will be held from 10 a.m. to noon in the Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, where the DOL is headquartered. Interest in this session appears to be quite high, as the DOL just announced that it has created a second seating area to accommodate more attendees. Additional details are available on the registration page.

In September, the DOL conducted listening sessions in five cities across the country: Atlanta, GA; Seattle, WA; Kansas City, MO; Denver, CO; and Providence, RI. Although most of the individuals who spoke at the sessions were in favor of increasing the minimum salary threshold for the FLSA’s white-color exemptions from the current level of $455 per week, which annualizes to $23,660 per year, they expressed different views as to the appropriate level of an increase.

We anticipate that the Washington, D.C., session will be the last listening session conducted prior to the DOL’s issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) concerning the FLSA white-collar overtime regulations. The DOL’s most recent regulatory agenda identified January 2019 as the target date for that NPRM.