Here’s how the federal overtime rules are starting to take shape for your workplace

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor asked for public comment on how to refresh the existing overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since it’s Monday, your eyes are probably bleary from all that’s been written about the DOL overtime rules, and it’s Monday, allow me to spoon feed you the latest…

What’s this about a request for public comment? I thought we did that already.

You did. Back in 2015.

Why are we doing this again?

Crawl out from under your rock, dude. The proposed rule that was almost the final rule is on ice. And there’s a new sheriff in town.

So, what does the DOL want to know now?

1. What metric(s) should be used to set the salary-level for the overtime exemptions?
2. How about different salary levels based on location, or industry, or something else (like a particular occupation)?
3. Should the salary level for the overtime test vary by exemption?
4. How should the salary level interface with the duties test?
5. What if salary were immaterial and we focused on duties alone?
6. How did employers prepare for the prior proposed overtime rules?
7. How much should non-discretionary bonused count towards satisfying the salary-level test?
8. Should there be multiple total annual compensation levels for the highly compensated employee exemption?
9. Should salary levels be updated automatically from time to time? How?

If you want to weigh in on any of these questions, here’s how you do it. The deadline is September 25, 2017.