Fluctuating Overtime Rule Shields Employers From Litigation (1)

The Labor Department has finalized a regulation to give employers more flexibility and legal clarity by allowing them to incorporate bonuses when using an alternate method to calculate overtime pay for workers with irregular schedules.

When it takes effect in 60 days, the final rule will give companies more protection from wage lawsuits. But there are concerns it could lead employers to abuse their newfound regulatory freedom by reducing salaries—an issue worker advocates have raised. The DOL framed the regulation, which revives a 2008 George W. Bush administration initiative that was quashed by the Obama administration, as a “final rule ...