AFL-CIO to Sue If Trump Changes Overtime Regulations

Employment Law

This week, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said the AFL-CIO is preparing to sue the Department of Labor if it attempts to walk back the Obama Administration's overtime expansion.  This threat comes after DOL nominee Alex Acosta stated in his confirmation hearing that doubling the threshold for overtime eligibility puts "a stress on the system," and that there are "serious questions as to whether the Secretary of Labor even has the power to enact this in the first place."  Some have interpreted these comments to mean that an Acosta-led Labor Department would review the rule and determine whether to alter the overtime limits or whether the government would continue to defend the rule in court.  Meanwhile, the overtime rule remains wrapped up in litigation in a Texas federal district court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Fifth Circuit has granted the parties until May 1, 2017 to submit briefs on the district court's injunction of the overtime rule from late November.