Changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Jodi D. Gentry, Vice President for Human Resource Services

Over the past several months, the Office of Human Resource Services, along with other university administrative offices, has been monitoring proposed changes by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) as they relate to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the criteria used to determine eligibility for overtime.
The anticipated FLSA changes have been confirmed and announced, and we now know that effective December 1, 2016, the minimum salary threshold used to determine eligibility for overtime will increase from $455 to $913 per week, or $47,476 annually, which cannot be prorated based on FTE. Importantly, certain types of positions are exempt from the minimum salary threshold, such as most of our academic personnel — including our county extension faculty, physicians, veterinarians, residents — as well as student classifications such as graduate assistants. However, more than 1,700 employees, most of whom are staff, are expected to be impacted.

While additional information and guidance will be provided later this summer as we work to comply with this change, two decisions have been made that may be helpful for planning purposes.

NEW EMPLOYEE CATEGORY: SALARIED NONEXEMPT

Effective December 1, to comply with the FLSA change, employees who are currently in exempt-level positions but who earn less than $47,476 will remain in their current job titles but will transition into an overtime eligible category titled “salaried nonexempt.” With this approach, time worked will not need to be entered and approved except when overtime hours are worked or accrued leave is used. The fringe rate of these employees will be the same as the current exempt fringe rate.

POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATES

Additionally, based on a detailed analysis and partnership with key stakeholders across campus, postdoctoral associates will be raised to the new salary threshold of $47,476, effective December 1, 2016. Effective July 1, 2016, the minimum salary level for newly hired postdoctoral associates will increase to $47,476. As a point of clarification, postdoctoral fellows are not impacted by these changes.

MORE INFORMATION

We will continue to evaluate the impact of these changes and provide information as we move forward. College- and vice presidential-unit HR administrators will be invited to attend an “FLSA Update” meeting in July to discuss the impact of these changes in more detail. General informational meetings also will be announced in an upcoming issue of the InfoGator. In the meantime, for additional information, please see the FLSA update web page at http://hr.ufl.edu/manager-resources/classification-compensation/flsa/ or contact Classification and Compensation at compensation@ufl.edu.