Michael Billok is a member of Bond,
Schoeneck & King’s Albany office.
BY MICHAEL BILLOK
Like time, the regulatory landscape never stops
moving. To that end, a key question on employers’
minds is this: What new laws and regulations are
going into effect in 2016, and how will they affect
my business?
New Overtime Exemption Rules
In July of 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor
(USDOL) proposed sweeping changes to
the overtime rules, such that millions of fewer
employees would be exempt from overtime. Currently
under federal law, in order to be exempt
from overtime under the executive, professional
or administrative employee exemptions, an employee
must earn at least $455 per week. (State
law requires minimum amounts of $675 per week
for executive and administrative employees).
Under the proposed new rule, those employees
would need to earn at least $970 per week in
order to still be exempt from the requirement
to pay them overtime for any time worked over
40 hours in a week. According to the USDOL’s
rulemaking schedule, the final rule should be
issued by July 2016. Once this rule goes into
effect, millions of employees that were earning
between $23,660 and $50,440 annually and were
previously exempt, will suddenly be subject to
overtime requirements.
New Injury and Illness Reporting Rules
In November of 2013, the U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed
rules that would drastically change how
employers track and report their injuries and
illnesses. This new rule is set to go into effect soon
as well, as OSHA has stated it intends to publish
the final rule in March of 2016. Currently employers
post annually, but do not submit, the OSHA
Form 300A that contains reportable injuries and
illnesses incurred over the past year.
