Campus to pause FLSA implementation

With the legal outcome of new federal regulations governing overtime eligibility currently in question, the University of Wisconsin–Madison will pause its implementation of federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) related changes that were scheduled to take effect today, Dec. 1, 2016.

Modifications to the FLSA were announced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) earlier this year. Campus had been communicating with affected employees in anticipation of implementing position changes and salary increases to comply with the modified FLSA.

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, a federal judge determined that the DOL lacked statutory authority to make the changes. A nationwide preliminary injunction was issued to temporarily block enforcement of the modified regulations pending further review by the court. This temporary injunction affects UW–Madison.

In response to this temporary injunction, UW–Madison is pausing most of the 3,300 previously scheduled position changes related to the FLSA regulation modifications. This means that employees who were going to move to nonexempt (hourly) status will not make that change at this time.

Similarly, proposed salary increases under the FLSA will no longer be in effect. UW–Madison does not have statutory authority to provide increases based on the new FLSA salary threshold if the modified regulations have not been implemented. All employees remain eligible for salary adjustments based on merit, equity or market.

The UW–Madison campus has made the decision to move forward with salary increases for postdoctoral employees. This is being done to align the salaries of our postdoctoral employees with the stipend rates proposed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to ensure our campus remains market competitive with our peers. Note that these positions are supported by grants and other non-state funds.

All affected employees will receive a communication by the end of today from their unit’s human resources office regarding these changes.

In the coming months, the UW–Madison campus will continue to closely monitor the ongoing court case. Future updates will be provided once we know more about the final status of these FLSA regulations. For more information, please visit the Office of Human Resources FLSA website.

If you are an employee who has been impacted and have questions, please contact your HR representative.