DOL’s Power to Set Salary Minimum for Overtime Exemption Ripe for SCOTUS Review
On February 14, 2025, the Fifth Circuit denied the appellants’ petition for rehearing en banc in Mayfield v. United States Dep’t of Labor— a September 2024 decision holding that the U.S. Department of Labor’s authority to “define” and “delimit” the terms of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions includes the power to set a minimum salary for exemption. The dispute in Mayfield dates back to 2019, when the DOL issued a final rule raising the minimum salary required to qualify for most EAP exemptions from $455 per week to $684 per week. Mayfield, a small business owner, challenged the rule, arguing that the DOL lacks, and has always lacked, the authority to define the EAP exemptions in terms of salary level (as opposed to by job duties)—an argument that has been embraced repeatedly by the Texas federal district courts (see here and here ). The district co...