U.S. Department of Labor Issues Final Overtime Rule The U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) issued the final FLSA overtime rule which will make nearly 1.3 million workers eligible for overtime pay. In the announcement published yesterday, the DOL finalized the first updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in fifteen years. This ends a several-year battle over the adjustments to the FLSA which have continued since they were initially published in 2015 during the Obama Administration. The new rules become effective on January 1, 2020, which will give employers a few months to prepare. The changes to the FLSA include updates to the standard salary level for each of the exemptions to the overtime provisions. Under the new rule, the minimum salary threshold would increase from the current level of $455 per week ($23,660 per year) to $684 per week (equivalent to $35,568 per year). In addition, the Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) salary level is increasing from $100,000 to $107,432 annually. Also, the rule permits incentive pay and bonuses to count towards up to 10% of the standard salary level provided it is paid at least annually. These changes will require that employers conduct an analysis of any…