It's all pretty good news for employers.

What are you grateful for this year? Here is my list.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the unopposed motion of 

the U.S. Department of Labor to dismiss as moot the appeal in the “overtime case” of Nevada v. U.S. Department of Labor. The Fifth Circuit order brings that litigation to an end.

For more details on this litigation, please read our recent bulletin by Jim Coleman and Ellen Kearns, the co-chairs of our firm’s Wage and Hour Practice Group.

The DOL is expected to begin a new rulemaking process and is expected to propose increasing the salary thresholds for the executive, administrative, and (some) professional exemptions to the overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act — but not by nearly as much as they would have been increased under the Obama Administration rule that has been struck down.

I’m reading the decision as we speak, and we’ll be back soon with analysis from our Wage and Hour gurus, Jim 

Coleman and Ellen Kearns. But meanwhile, here is the Opinion and Order from U.S. District Court Judge Amos Mazzant, and here is the Judgment.

The judge granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the business plaintiffs, a group led by the Plano (TX) Chamber of Commerce.

You may recall that Judge Mazzant’s preliminary injunction, issued last November, is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Image Credit: From flickr, Creative Commons license, by State Farm Insurance.

Overtime rule - what's the Trump Administration doing? Last Friday, I posted about the U.S. Department of Labor's brief in the case challenging the Obama Administration's overtime rule, which has been enjoined since November 2016. The Trump DOL position had me scratching my head because it sounded an awful lot like the Obama DOL position, and I said that we'd be hearing soon from some ...

The U.S. Department of Labor submitted its brief today in Nevada v. U.S. Department of Labor, the case involving the challenge to the Obama Administration's overtime rule.

Some very quick background: The overtime rule, which would have more than doubled the salary threshold for administrative, executive, and some professional exemptions from the minimum wage and overtime ...

And may it die quickly. The U.S. Department of Labor has taken formal regulatory action to rescind the Obama Administration's "Persuader Rule." The DOL has been enjoined from enforcing the rule since November 2016, but the latest action will presumably end it for good. Let's hope. David Phippen of our Washington DC Metro Office has the details in this Client Bulletin.

Mayor de Blasio ...

Trump DOL removes Obama DOL guidance on independent contractors, joint employment. On Wednesday, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta removed two Administrator's Interpretations on independent contractors and joint employment issued during the Obama Administration. Here is our Client Bulletin, which I wrote with Jim Coleman, co-chair of our Wage and Hour Practice Group. The ...

As most readers know, the U.S. Department of Labor’s overtime rule, which was set to take effect yesterday, was preliminarily enjoined (temporarily blocked) on November 22 by U.S. District Court Judge Amos Mazzant III. The injunction in Nevada v. Perez applies nationwide, but the court’s decision is not final, and the DOL appealed yesterday. An article in the Washington Post

NOTE FROM ROBIN: As I posted last night, the U.S. Department of Labor Overtime Rule, which would have taken effect a week from tomorrow, has been preliminarily enjoined. I am re-posting here a client bulletin by Jim Coleman, co-chair of our Wage and Hour Compliance and Litigation Practice Group, and me. This went out to our clients this morning.

The new regulations that ...