The Department of Labor's new overtime rule set to go into
effect Dec. 1 have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Texas granted the State of Nevada's motion for injunctive relief
from the rule on Tuesday.
The final rule would increase the maximum salary level at
which full-time employees must be paid overtime to $47,476, from the previous
salary level of $23,660.
“The court finds the public interest is best served by an
injunction. … Due to the approaching effective date of the final rule, the
court’s ability to render a meaningful decision on the merits is in jeopardy,”
Mazzant wrote. “A preliminary injunction preserves the status quo while the
court determines the department’s authority to make the final rule as well as
the final rule’s validity."
Several media outlets reported that the Department of Labor
was considering its legal options following the injunction.
ASTA has said the rules would likely place a “burden on all
small businesses."
While ASTA was not involved in the case that resulted in the
suspension of the rules, the Society has been vocally against them for some
time, fighting to have them delayed or blocked. Most recently, ASTA included
its position about the rules in a letter to vice president-elect Mike Pence and
his transition team.