Campus housing departments in the United States have carefully watched proposed changes to Fair Labor Standards Act regulations in recent years. The U.S. Department of Labor in August announced again proposed updates and revisions to existing regulations under the FLSA (29 U.S.C. § 203) related to exemptions from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.
Professionals who are exempt from receiving overtime pay are those who either 1) exceed the salary limit and meet the commonly referred to as the “white-collar” or executive, administrative, or professional (EAP) exemption or 2) have a salary that exceeds an upper threshold. The current exempt lower salary limit, last updated in 2019, is a salary basis of at least $684 per week or $35,568 annual equivalent.
The proposed rule would raise the salary threshold to $1,059 per week ($55,068 annually for a full-year worker). The proposed salary is based on the 35th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census Region (currently the regional South). The proposed rule would also add an automatic updating mechanism for exemption earning thresholds. The full proposed rule is available online through the Federal Register.
ACUHO-I contracts with Active Policy Solutions, a public policy firm, to monitor proposed legislation and the effect it may have on the campus housing profession. Download their summary of the new proposed rule.
