Overtime Regulations on Hold

New overtime regulations enacted by the Obama Administration this summer are now on hold after a Texas judge filed a nationwide injunction last week.

The regulations, initially scheduled to go into effect Dec. 1, required employers to pay overtime to employees earning up to $47,476 each year. Currently, the threshold is $23,660, which was last updated in 2004.

As Melanie Trottman and Ruth Simon of the Wall Street Journal report:

"Nearly two dozen states and a coalition of business groups filed two separate lawsuits to overturn the regulation, alleging that the government had overstepped its authority, including by stipulating that the $47,476 salary threshold would automatically increase every three years. The complaints were consolidated into a single case.

"On Tuesday, Judge Amos Mazzant in Texas ruled in favor of the challengers, writing in an order that in setting the automatic salary increases, 'the department exceeds its delegated authority and ignores Congress’s intent.'

The Obama Labor Department said Tuesday that it is considering legal options, but time is running out, as the new administration will be installed on January 20, 2017, with a completely new set of priorities. In a statement, the Labor Department said, “We strongly disagree with the decision by the court, which has the effect of delaying a fair day’s pay for a long day’s work for millions of hardworking Americans."