Recent Developments May Cause Employers to Breathe a  Sigh of Relief ... at Least for the Short Term
EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Put On Hold
On August 29, 2017, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) initiated an immediate review and stay of the pay data collection requirements for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) revised EEO-1 form.

The OMB previously approved the revised EEO-1 form in September 2016. The revised EEO-1 required covered employers to report pay data, including hours worked, based on a workforce snapshot pay period of October 1 to December 31. Private sector employers with 100 or more employees and covered federal contractors were required to identify the number of employees paid within one of the twelve specific pay bands by gender and ethnicity or race. The initial filing deadline for the revised EEO-1 was March 2018.

Citing concerns regarding the practical utility and unnecessary burden of the pay data collection, as well as privacy and confidentiality issues, the OMB's suspension and review means that the collection and reporting of pay data is on hold. The OMB has not indicated when, or if, the requirement will be reinstated.

The EEOC website confirms that the previously approved EEO-1 form, which collects data on race, ethnicity and gender by occupational category, remains in effect. E mployers should plan to comply with that form by the previously set filing date of March 2018.
DOL Abandons Appeal of New Overtime Rule
On August 31, 2017, a Texas federal court held that the Department of Labor's (DOL) 2016 Final Rule, which more than doubled the minimum salary levels required for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), was invalid.  

As a result, the DOL filed an unopposed motion dismissing its appeal of a previously issued nationwide preliminary injunction of the Final Rule. The Fifth Circuit granted the DOL's motion on September 6, 2017. The move appears to signal the intent of the DOL to abandon the 2016 Final Rule and move forward with a new rulemaking process to update the overtime regulations.

The Final Rule was published by the DOL in May 2016 and was initially scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2016.  Under the Final Rule, the minimum salary level for employees to be exempt from overtime increased from $455 to $913 per week. The Final Rule also created an automatic updating mechanism to adjust the minimum salary level every three years, with the first automatic increase scheduled to occur on January 1, 2020.

On July 26, 2017, the DOL initiated a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input to assist in formulating a proposal to revise the FLSA regulations, including questions related to the salary level and duties tests for the FLSA's overtime exemptions.  The comment period for the RFI is scheduled to end on September 25, 2017.

NFC will continue to monitor the status of these developing rulings and 
keep you up to date as new information is released.

If you have any questions regarding these recent developments, 
please contact  Katherin Nukk-Freeman  or the 
NFC attorney with whom you normally  work.


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