The FLSA Overtime Rules Are On Hold

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs the rules regarding overtime for workers and employers.  In May of 2016, President Obama made significant changes to the rules allowing more than 4 million more workers to become eligible for overtime – and some of these folks are APA members!

The new rule for FLSA was set to take affect beginning December 1, 2016, allowing anyone who makes less than $47,476 per year to be eligible for overtime.

Currently, per Article 18 of the APA Contract, APA members who are at level AP11 and below are eligible for overtime (at time and one-half) for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek. APA members who are level AP12 and above are not eligible for overtime; however, they can earn compensatory time with supervisor approval at the rate of straight time.

As a result of changes to FLSA, MSU must now track hours for some APA members who had not previously had to track their hours. By law, MSU will be required to pay overtime to any APA member who makes less than $47,476 and works in excess of 40 hours in a week.

However, the Department of Labor’s revised Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime rules were blocked on November 22, 2016 by a federal judge in Texas. Judge Amos Mazzant issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks the Department of Labor from implementing the new FLSA rules nationwide.

Therefore, on December 1, 2016, MSU will not be legally obligated to implement the new annual salary threshold of $47,476 regarding eligibility for APA members to receive overtime. With the incoming presidential administration, it remains unclear whether the new threshold will ever take effect. Yet, the APA is working in coordination with NEA as our national union to influence the official implementation of the new overtime rule.

The APA has directly communicated with those individuals who are impacted by the new FLSA rule change and we will continue to keep the entire membership informed with any relevant updates.

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