Our Wage and Hour Practice Group thought leaders have pulled together their top predictions for the new year so that employers can get a running start to 2025. If you want more, register for our FP Workplace Law Forecast Webinar here.
Return to Less Burdensome Rules
As the new Trump administration takes shape, we don’t think the DOL will pick up the legal battles over the OT rule, and the threshold will remain just above $35k for now. However, we do anticipate that the DOL will take steps to modestly increase the salary threshold (as it did during the first Trump administration). This means employers have some critical decisions to make on how to move forward with compensation plans, particularly since many employers already complied with the now-halted phase one of the rule, which raised the threshold to $44k.
We also expect the DOL to drop a Biden-era independent contractor standard and return to the more lenient rule issued during Trump’s first term. You can read more here about the Biden-era rule, as well as the former Trump administration rule that we expect to see resurface.
Similarly, we think the DOL will shift back to its pre-Biden, more employer-friendly joint employer standard. During the first Trump administration, the DOL attempted to shield businesses from being considered joint employers in a wide spectrum of circumstances, but that rule was blocked by the courts. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
More Lawsuits from Business Groups
In addition to the Trump...
The income tax department has initiated a nationwide verification operation targeting fraudulent claims of deductions and exemptions in I-T returns. This action follows the discovery of organized r...