The U.S. Justice Department announced that it is appealing last week’s nationwide preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked implementation of the Labor Department’s new overtime rule. The rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2016, would have extended eligibility for overtime pay to an estimated 4.2 million exempt workers unless their weekly salaries were increased to new minimum salary levels. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted the emergency request for a temporary injunction to preserve the status quo while the Court considers whether the Department of Labor has authority to create a salary test for overtime exemption, as it did.
The Justice Department’s appeal of the injunction will be before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
