The appeal of the injunction for implementing the White Collar overtime rule that was originally scheduled to go in to effect last December is a bit more up in the air this week. The rule would raise the threshold from $455 to $913 per week before an employee could even be considered eligible for one of several overtime exemptions. Several business groups and States filed suit in Federal Court in East Texas which placed an injunction on the implementation of the rule pending the full hearing and court. The Department of Labor appealed the injunction.

The Appeal of the injunction was granted expedited status in the Federal Appeals Court in New Orleans back in December. The Department of Labor made their arguments, the plaintiffs filed their arguments as well. Several groups also filed amicus briefs in addition to all the other filings. The ball then lands in the Department of Labor to answer the Plaintiffs’ claims. All this takes us to this past week when the Department of Labor (under the new administration) asked for a 30 day extension to reply. That would take the deadline from January 31 to March 2 giving the Trump administration the time to decide if it even wants to pursue the rule or withdraw it completely.

So what does this mean to cotton ginners. NOTHING. The rule which could have had a profound effect on many office staff and managers in the middle of gin season has been pushed back even further. President Trump’s pick for Labor secretary was vocal about his displeasure at the rule when it was first proposed so it is highly likely that this rule will be dropped or modified so significantly that it won’t be recognizable. I hope this is the end of this but it looks like the end of it for now anyway.

DSF