The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking comments on a proposed federal administrative rule that modifies the federal minimum salary threshold to avoid required overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The proposed rule would increase the federal salary threshold from $35,000 to $55,000 (possibly up to $60,000).

Cities interested in commenting on the federal rule can read the rule text and submit comments here. Comments on the rule are due November 7.

The U.S. Small Business Administration would also like to hear from small employers (including cities with a population under 50,000) on the impacts of the rule, including feedback on:

• Your city’s experience with increased overtime-exempt salary thresholds and how they impact your city business and operations.
• What compliance costs a city might face from this rule, such as number of employees affected, average salaries in your geographic area, and your city’s compliance strategy for increasing thresholds.
• Alternative approaches that DOL might take, including what might be an appropriate threshold for medium and small cities, or the best methodology and frequency for DOL to periodically adjust the thresholds.

If you have feedback that you’d like the Small Business Administration to consider for their own comments on the rule, you can send it to Janis Reyes (Janis.Reyes@sba.gov). The SBA is hoping to receive feedback this week so they can incorporate them into their own comments ahead of the November 7 comment deadline.

In Washington, we also have our own state rules governing overtime-exempt salary thresholds based on our state minimum wage. We last wrote about it here. For 2024, the Washington state overtime exempt threshold will be two times the state minimum wage, or $1,302.40 per week ($67,724.80 per year). Washington’s wage and hour laws are enforced by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries.