by Renee Mielnicki, Esquire
Last week, I blogged about what to expect as a result of the nationwide preliminary injunction issued by a federal Texas Judge that blocked the Department of Labor’s overtime rule from going into effect on December 1, 2016. One of the possibilities I talked about was an appeal by the DOL to a higher court. Well . . . that’s happened.
On December 1, which was supposed to be the effective date of the overtime rule, the DOL filed an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a federal court that has jurisdiction over the appeal from the Federal District Court. So what might happen now? Well, this could play out a couple of ways. The Fifth Circuit could make a ruling in favor of the DOL, in favor of the employers or send it back down to the federal court below for a number of legal reasons. Or, after a decision is issued, a last appeal could be filed with the United States Supreme Court, the highest court in our great land of the USA. Another possibility is that this case is not resolved in the courts before President-Elect Trump takes office. In that case, he could instruct the DOL to withdraw the appeal and the ultimate outcome would be up to the federal judge in Texas (which most likely would mean the rule is never coming into effect). There are one or two more possibilities which relate to an action by Congress. For more information on those possibilities, see last week’s blog.
In the meantime, the law has not changed. The preliminary injunction that blocked the overtime rule from taking effect is still in place. So unless and until something further happens, it is not the law…yet. If it will ever become the law remains to be seen. We will be sure to let you know as soon as any legal changes become public information.
Please make sure you continue to follow us closely as this situation continues to play out in the court system. With the impending change in the presidential administration, I expect events related to this law to continue to unfold rather quickly.
If you have questions, please contact our HR team by emailing us at HRhelpline@eastcoastrm.com.
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