In August, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a notice of proposed rulemaking that would extend overtime protections to 3.6 million salaried workers.

The proposed rule would increase the threshold salary for exempt status to $1,059 per week, with the possibility that the figure might even be $1,158 per week by the time any regulatory changes become final. This is a very dramatic increase over the current threshold of $684 per week.

NACS opposes this increase, which would most noticeably impact store managers and assistant managers, writing in its comments that raising the threshold “would put a large number of industry employers to the difficult choice between increasing salaries versus abandoning the exemption for store managers and for those assistant store managers who qualify for exempt status.”

In August, NACS Daily reported that “NACS has concerns that the proposed rule would create unjustified burdens and costs for employers. While the industry recognizes the importance of reviewing and updating this regulation and has supported that in comments in the past, the Department has missed the mark with this proposal. The current overtime rule works for both employees and employers.”

Fisher Phillips provides further details on the proposal process and best ways to prepare for the rule to go into effect in this article. Read more about the proposed rule from Politico, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.