Despite the enumerated twin goals to “update” and “simplify” the overtime regulations governing exempt status identified in the President’s original 2014 directive to the Department of Labor, a new blog post from Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez indicates that the proposed rule now submitted to the Office of Management and Budget will focus on narrowing the exemptions. The post states the Department’s view that the “rules governing who is eligible for overtime have eroded over the years . . . [resulting in] millions of salaried workers hav[ing] been left without the guarantee of time and a half pay,” and makes no mention of the bilateral benefits to employer and employee provided by guaranteed salary arrangements. Further, despite being outside the purview of the review undertaken in response to the President’s Executive Order, Secretary Perez’s post goes on to urge that it is “time to raise the national minimum wage” and establish “a national wage floor that that [sic] rises each year, so that its purchasing power doesn’t erode with time.” The post does not provide a specific timetable for issuance of the proposed rule to the public.

Watch this space for further coverage of the proposed rules and the continued debate regarding wage policy and its impact on economic growth.