Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the official publication of the proposed changes to the federal overtime rules. This announcement is significant because it triggers the start of the 60-day period for public comments in favor of and opposed to the rule changes. The comment period will remain open until May 21, after which the Department of Labor will evaluate the comments and decide whether and when to implement any of the changes.

The DOL’s proposed overtime rule changes primarily involve increasing the minimum salary that employers must pay certain workers to avoid overtime from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $679 per week ($35,308 annually). The proposed rule changes also involve increasing the total annual compensation required for the “highly compensated employee” overtime exemption from $100,000 to $147,414. The DOL estimates that these changes will make more than one million additional American workers eligible for overtime pay.

A complete description of the DOL’s proposed rule changes can be found on the DOL’s web site, and anyone interested in submitting comments regarding the proposed rule changes can submit them electronically.