On August 23, 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor implemented new regulations that could significantly impact the way apartment firms compensate their employees. The new rules revise the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which determines when an employer must pay overtime.

Under the controversial new rules: 

• Workers who earn less than $23,660 a year, or $455 a week, are automatically eligible for overtime, up from the prior threshold of $8,060 set in the 1970s.
• Employees who earn more than $100,000 will lose their overtime unless they do not regularly perform professional, administrative or executive duties.
• Salaried workers who fall between $23,660 and $100,000 a year could be exempt from the FSLA’s overtime requirement based on a "duties test."
• Those who are bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees are precluded from earning overtime.

Opponents argue that the rules dramatically increase the number of employees excluded from overtime pay and are expected to initiate legal challenges to the rules.

The final regulations as well as a side-by-side comparison of the new regulations and the old and frequently asked questions are posted to the right under "Related Resources." 

Additional information, including fact sheets, a training video and DOL's Overtime Advisor are available at DOL's  FairPay web site.

An NMHC/NAA White Paper answering the most frequently asked apartment-specific questions is available here.