U.S. Labor Department looks to clarify its authority in using salary levels to determine overtime pay eligibility.
The U.S. Labor Department, in a brief to the New Orleans-based 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday, defended its authority to use salary levels to decide who was eligible for overtime pay, but also expressed that it did not support the salary threshold of $47,500 developed under the Obama administration, according to a report by Reuters.
Reuters reported that the Labor Department is challenging a November decision from a federal judge in Texas that blocked the Obama overtime rule, a decision that the department said could prevent it from setting a new threshold below that set by the Obama administration.
The Obama rule was expected to extend overtime pay eligibility to more than 4 million salaried workers. Nevada and 20 other states sued last year to block the rule.
Business groups criticized the increase as too drastic and costly, potentially forcing employers to convert salaried workers to hourly wages.
Trump’s Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta said during his confirmation hearing in March that the correct threshold might be around $33,000. The Labor Department took initial steps earlier this week to begin developing a new threshold, but told the court it was “reluctant” to move forward with the rulemaking necessary to set a new threshold as long as its authority was in question.