California Proposes New Overtime Rules

Lawmakers in the Golden State are deliberating a measure that would increase the state’s minimum salary for overtime exemption. If the law passes, California would join New York as the second state this year to update its overtime rules.
 

Sponsored by Assemblymember Tony Thurmond, A.B. 1565 proposes raising the state’s minimum salary for overtime exemption from $43,680 to $47,476. The latter number may look familiar to eagle-eyed HR professionals, as it is the same increase the Department of Labor (DOL) targeted nationally last year.
 

The DOL rule change stumbled last November, when a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction preventing it from taking effect.
 

The legislation currently sits with California’s Committee on Labor and Employment, where it will undergo a preliminary review this week before heading to the state assembly for a vote. If approved, it would become effective on January 1, 2018. Governor Jerry Brown has not yet opined publicly on the proposal.