Although a court order has put a temporary halt on some new overtime rules, businesses in New York State may still be impacted.
A federal judge in Texas this week blocked the start of a rule that would have made an estimated four million additional American workers eligible for overtime pay heading into the holiday season.
The legislation would have taken effect December 1 and would raise the salary limit below which workers automatically qualified for overtime pay.
The judge granted an emergency request by 21 states to delay implementation of the new rules. But New York State already had been working on its own changes to the regulations over who is eligible for overtime. That according to attorney Andre Lindsay of Harter Secrest & Emery, and he says New York's rules, while they are a little different than the proposed federal regulations, are due to take effect on December 31st.
Lindsay says a lot of employers in the state have already made changes to employee's hours in anticipation of the new overtime rules.
“I think generally people have been expecting them for some time, the word has been out there on the street, so people were preparing for them and some have already taken steps to be in in compliance, even before December 1, "Lindsay told WXXI News.
At the Rochester-based payroll company, Paychex, CEO Marty Mucci said that, “This injunction means that the December 1 deadline for compliance with the new rules cannot currently be implemented or enforced by the Department of Labor…While it’s anticipated that there will be further judicial review of the injunction, this development creates substantial uncertainty for businesses.”
The court challenge to the overtime rules comes as the new administration gets ready to take office next year, and questions have been raised about how a Donald Trump White House will react to the regulations, since his staffers have spoken out against Obama-backed government regulation.
