BREAKING: Federal Judge Blocks Overtime Rule

Earlier today, Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the changes to the so-called “white collar” overtime exemption that were set to go into effect on December 1.

Judge Mazzant held that the states that filed suit against the new rule were likely to succeed in their challenge, because the new salary threshold adopted by the Department of Labor was so high as to effectively supplant the “duties test” that Congress intended to govern the exemption.

The preliminary injunction suspends the rule changes pending further proceedings in the lawsuit. As a practical matter, the preliminary injunction means that the new salary threshold is unlikely to go into effect on Dec. 1 as anticipated. A copy of the order is available here.