New Overtime Pay Rules Effective January 1, 2020. WSHA Provides Bulletin

Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, Executive, Administrative and Professional (EAP) workers will need to make at least $35,568 to be eligible for “exempt status” from overtime pay and other benefits. That is the new federal salary threshold effective Jan. 1, 2020, set by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under its recently issued EAP overtime rules.

WSHA released a bulletin this week about changes to EAP overtime rules, specifically to advise members that the Washington State’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) finalized its own EAP overtime pay rules. Those rules are effective July 1, 2020. The federal salary threshold will apply in Washington in 2020, as it is more favorable to workers. L&I’s salary threshold will apply starting January 1, 2021, when it overtakes the federal threshold. L&I’s final rule establishes an overtime pay threshold of 2.5 times the state’s minimum wage with a phased-in implementation over 8 years. By then, the exempt status salary threshold will be approximately $83,000. WSHA weighed in during L&I’s rulemaking and highlighted the challenges this high threshold presents rural providers. The bulletin is available here. (Jaclyn Greenberg, jaclyng@wsha.org)