Fall 2023: What to Expect from Biden’s DOL Wage & Hour Rules?
TL/DR –
The Biden Administration announced on December 6, 2023, the release of its Fall 2023 Unified Agenda, which includes a number of rulemakings by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Significant proposals include an increase to the minimum salary level for white-collar exemptions and a rule on the classification of employees or independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Regulatory Agenda also noted the recent rule “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations,” which went into effect on October 23, 2023, and will impact government contractors and some non-contracting employers who choose to comply with the Act’s prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements.
What to Expect from Biden’s Fall 2023 Regulatory Agenda and DOL Wage and Hour Division Rulemakings
The Biden Administration announced the Fall 2023 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions on December 6, 2023. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is consistently pushing, albeit with frequent delays, significant rulemakings such as the proposed increase to the minimum salary level for white-collar exemptions.
Notable rulemakings from the U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division progressed since the Spring 2023 Regulatory Agenda, but significant items with uncertain timelines are still in process.
The Department’s rule, “Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” closed comments on December 13, 2022. However, the regulated community is still waiting to learn how the Department will address the insights expressed in over 55,000 comments to the proposed rule.
The Regulatory Agenda estimates April 2024 as the release date for the final rule on the increase to the minimum salary level for white-collar exemptions. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees,” published on September 8, 2023, received over 33,000 comments. This rule seeks to increase the overtime threshold from $684 per week ($35,568 per year) to $1,059 per week ($55,068 per year), which could increase due to new wage data.
A recent accomplishment by the Wage and Hour Division is the “Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations” rule, which went into effect on October 23, 2023. This rule purports to clarify and modernize the DBA’s implementing regulations and will impact some employers that choose to comply with the Act’s prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements to claim enhanced tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Employers should anticipate that the Division will leverage all its resources to achieve the Biden Administration’s wage-hour goals before the end of this term. It is wise for businesses to consider proactive measures for ensuring compliance in case pending rules become final and binding.
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