Effective December 1, 2016, employers must pay a minimum salary of $47,476 per year to their exempt white collar workers. This threshold will automatically increase every three years. The DOL has issued several documents explaining the new rule, which can be found here.
There were no changes to the "duties tests" for white collar exemption and the new rule does allow up to 10 percent of the salary threshold to be met by non-discretionary bonuses, incentive pay, or commissions, provided they are paid at least quarterly.
Although legislation has been proposed to require the DOL to examine the impact of its new rule before implementation, employers are advised to plan to comply with the new rule by December 1, 2016.
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