Over the next few days, I hope to provide a few updates from attending last week’s ABA Labor & Employment Law Annual Conference in Philadelphia.  There were many good, substantive programs there and lots to be gleaned for employers.

One of the sessions focused on the proposed revisions to the white collar overtime exemptions that were released for comment earlier this year.  The Department of Labor Solicitor Patricia Smith provided some insights in a panel discussion about where things were headed.

(For more background on these proposed revisions, see my prior post here.)

The solicitor indicated that the DOL received over 270,000 (!) comments to the proposed revisions and that more than 3,000 of those were “substantive” in nature. That unprecedented number of comments means that a good deal of time must be spent by the DOL to review those comments. She indicated the DOL was still reviewing the comments.

As a result, she indicated that the final version of these white collar revisions would not come out until sometime in 2016.

You might be asking: When exactly?

Well, she didn’t indicate that other than to say that she hint opaquely that it might be “late” in the year.

My own speculation (and let me be clear that it is just that) is that the final revisions may not come out until after the 2016 Presidential election.  If they are released beforehand, it is possible, and perhaps probable, that they will become a campaign issue.

In any event, when the final revisions come out, the DOL solicitor indicated that employers will have 60 days to comply.  Thus, at this point, the very earliest employers can expect to implement these revisions is March or April 2016 – and again, that’s not likely.

So what are employers to do now? The usual things: Keep up to date on what is going on; review your existing positions for compliance and with an eye towards the revisions; consider your salary range for people that are close to the $50k proposed threshold.