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, t he 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. (See Federal Court Upholds DOL’s Author...