DOL’s Salary Rule for Exempt Employees In Jeopardy After Fifth Circuit Oral Argument
A Fifth Circuit panel heard oral argument on Wednesday, August 7, on whether Department of Labor (DOL) regulations imposing a salary requirement to satisfy the executive, administrative and professional exemptions is valid. The case on appeal, Mayfield v U.S. Department of Labor , does not address the minimum salary level increase that took effect July 1, 2024 . Rather, the appeals court is considering an ongoing challenge to the DOL’s previous regulation implemented during the Trump administration that increased the salary level to $35,568 . The lawsuit challenges the DOL’s authority to require any salary level. The plaintiff argues the statute, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), does not impose a salary requirement for the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions, and that the DOL regulation imposing such a requirement is inconsistent with the statute . A federal district court in Texas previously upheld the Trump DOL rule. (S...