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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; What can employers do now that an injunction has been placed on the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemptions law?</p><p>&#8220;Sit tight,&#8221; says Attorney Lars Anderson, of Hourigan, Klugar &amp; Quinn, who focuses on labor and employment issues.</p><p>Anderson recently spoke to the Wyoming Rotary Club about the law, where it stands now, and what employers can do to prepare for the change &#8212; if the law is passed.</p><p>The law, which would have changed the overtime regulation aspect of the FLSA, was set to take effect Dec. 1, but was blocked by a federal judge in Texas in late November.</p><p>The law would have enabled more workers to be eligible for overtime pay, or time-and-a-half on time after 40 hours within a work week, by raising the minimum pay for those exempt from overtime from $455 to $913 per week.</p><p>The current law that states a salaried worker can be considered one who earns $455 per week &#8212; or $23,660 per year &#8212; surprised some of the attendees.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s low!&#8221; one audience member exclaimed.</p><p>Anderson said the Obama Administration estimates around 8 million people would be affected by the new law.</p><p>Though the law was temporarily halted, the Department of Labor can still appeal the decision. Anderson said the temporary injunction is the first step in a lengthy process to stopping the law from taking effect.</p><p>&#8220;You have to have some pretty strong legal arguments for a judge to issue a nationwide injunction,&#8221; said Anderson.</p><p>Mark Sobeck, owner of Mark J. Sobeck Roof Consulting and member of the Rotary club, said he asked Anderson to speak to the group because several members are business owners and had questions about the new law.</p><p>&#8220;We want to make sure we&#8217;re doing right by our employees,&#8221; he said. Sobeck said some of his 12 employees would have been affected by the change in law.</p><p>Rotary club member Chris Casale, owner of Pure Edge Technologies, a telecommunications company in Forty Fort, had concerns about employees who were switching from salary to hourly workers.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have time clocks,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Anderson said that aspect of the law can be worked out by business owners, and it could be as simple as an agreement with an employee about how many hours a week they will work.</p><p>Casale said while the law would help workers by ensuring they are paid properly for their time, he believes employers and employees should be able to work together on payment issues.</p><p>&#8220;(My opinion is) mixed about (the new law) because while it will protect or help employees who are under compensated for their time, in some ways, businesses should have a choice to work with employees on a solution to those problems instead of being told to do so by the government,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Anderson said employers should have a plan in place in case the injunction is lifted and the law does go into place, but they do not need to act on those changes until then.</p><p>He said to consult an attorney, preferably one that focuses on labor and employment issues. He also said employers should evaluate their employees&#8217; job descriptions based on the work employees actually do and make changes as necessary.</p><p>Anderson said the law wouldn&#8217;t change the description of duties for exempt and non-exempt employees, so it would be important for employers&#8217; job descriptions to fall in line with those duties in case of a legal challenge.</p><p>The salary changes could be handled in a few different ways, according to Anderson. He said some employers may need to change their hourly rates to coincide with how many agreed-upon hours employees will work to meet the requirements. He also said employees can be given raises to become exempt from overtime, or employers can limit their employees&#8217; hours to stay in the hourly range.</p><p>&#8220;Just because (employees) may now become overtime eligible doesn&#8217;t mean that you have to increase their salary,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You know, they may be someone who isn&#8217;t going to work more than 40 hours in a work week for you. So technically if the regulation means that they will be eligible, they may not be affected. You&#8217;re only going to know that if you evaluate what they&#8217;re doing for you, what their hours are, and evaluate their role in the company.&#8221;</p><p>Anderson said it&#8217;s important for employers to have open and honest conversations with their employees about these changes, as they could have an effect on employee morale.</p><p>&#8220;If I&#8217;ve gone from a salary employee and I was happy and I thought, &#8216;I&#8217;m worth it, I&#8217;m a salaried employee, I&#8217;m above someone else,&#8217; does making me an hourly employee make me upset?&#8221; he said. &#8220;Does it change my perception of the company? Does it change my perception of how the company values me? Those are all questions you need to think about &#8230; on an individual basis.&#8221;</p><p>And employers who began implementing changes before the law took effect could be in some murky legal waters. For example, Anderson said, if an employer raised an employee&#8217;s salary to meet the requirements for the regulation before the law was halted, the employer, legally, could decrease that employee&#8217;s salary now.</p><p>Penn State recently raised some employees&#8217; salaries in preparation for the changes, and announced a week after the injunction that those salaries would remain in tact, according to a press release on the university website.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Anderson </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_Lars-Anderson.jpg</photo0><caption0>Anderson </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Attorney: Blocked overtime law could be reinstated</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Sarah Hite Hando</p><p>shando@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Sarah Hite Hando at 570-704-3945.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lawyer: Overtime law may be halted, but employers should have a plan ready