Overtime Rule Changes Finalized

By: fedweek

OPM published in the September 17 Federal Register the final version of rules to make the government’s internal rules on overtime mirror those applying to the private sector under Labor Department rules. Except for a change involving setting a salary level ($23,660) below which positions are presumed to be eligible for overtime, the notice said, the regs changes update and clarify but do not fundamentally change previous policies. “Therefore, we do not anticipate changes in the exemption status of the vast majority of federal employees to whom the current regulations were properly applied”—a person who is “exempt” is not eligible for overtime.—the notice says. Also eliminated was a former test focusing on the percentage of time the individual spends on duties considered exempt or not exempt, on grounds that court decisions have rejected that test.