Employers get ready for new overtime rules

BOISE – Area employers are preparing for and trying to understand new overtime wage rules to take effect in late August.

Employers must have notifications and job descriptions in place to comply with the new federal rules by Aug. 23.

Boise-based Micron Technology, the state’s largest private employer, expects an easy switch, said Debra Ellers, senior assistant general counsel. The company still is surveying all its jobs to determine any changes from nonexempt to exempt status.

“It’s prompting us to update what we’re doing and make sure we’re in compliance,” Ellers said.

Old regulations required employers to pay at least time and a half for employees when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. The regulations were tweaked in recent changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employees making less than $23,660 – or $455 a week – are guaranteed overtime. Those making more than $100,000 a year will, in most cases, be exempt from overtime pay. Employees ineligible for overtime benefits must primarily perform clerical or non-manual work.

Kim Dockstader, a partner in the Stoel Rives law firm, said initial proposed revisions in the laws were considerably watered down, making fewer workers exempt. The Boise-based firm held a workshop Friday for human-resources professionals to learn about the new laws.

Dockstader said that while the laws were diluted, they are not easier to interpret and will not reduce the number of wage and hour lawsuits.

“I don’t think we’re going to see any fewer lawsuits,” he said. “The new rules are anything but simple.”

He said the new rules provide pages of “tests” employers must use in determining whether an individual must be paid overtime.

“The biggest chunk of job groups affected will be entry-level supervisors who don’t meet the salary threshold,” said Teresa Ball, who owns HR Precision in Meridian, Idaho, a human-resources consulting firm. “But I haven’t seen huge concerns among my clients.”