The Department of Labor is upgrading the minimum salary for exempt employees from $684 per week ($35,568 per year) to $844 per week ($43,888 per year) as of July 1, 2024, and then to $1,128 per week ($58,656 per year) as of January 1, 2025.
The idea is that this minimum salary should be tied to the economic reality. And that makes at least a little sense.
But, let’s face it, the FLSA makes little sense in 2024. Congress first passed this law in 1938, and they have amended it from time to time, but it remains substantially the same. In a nutshell, it divides employees into two classes: exempt and non-exempt. The non-exempt are paid by the hour and can receive overtime pay, and the exempt receive a salary.
Both groups have minimum salaries, and the law enshrined the 40-hour workweek into law.
And so, what’s wrong with that in 2024? Just about everything, and this latest law change is an example of this.
To keep reading, click here: Upgrade FLSA: legislation vs free market in employment
