On Sept. 25, GCSAA, CMAA, NCA, PGA of America and NGCOA submitted joint comments to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in response to a Request For Information (RFI) on the crafting of a new Overtime Exemption Rule. The comments conveyed the industry's concerns with the old rule developed under the Obama administration, and what should be in any new rule put forth by the Trump administration.

Earlier this year, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said the salary threshold proposed by the department under the Obama administration was excessive and too burdensome on many employers. The Obama-era rule would have doubled (to $47,476) the salary threshold under which virtually all workers are guaranteed overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours per week. Acosta suggested, however, that the current minimum salary level of $23,660 should be updated and the DOL's RFI is a first step in the agency's plan to revise the regulations. The overtime rule was last adjusted in 2004.

The golf industry comments focused on the following considerations:

1. Setting an appropriate standard salary threshold level. The golf industry proposed a new standard salary threshold, to be used in conjunction with the duties test, whereby bonafide EAP employees with $30,827.85 or less in total annual earnings qualify for overtime pay. This figure was derived by updating the DOL's 2004 standard salary threshold of $23,660 per year to account for inflation, ensuring commeasurent buying power as compared to July 2017. The measure of inflation utilized was the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.
2. Maintaining the existing duties test and balance with the salary threshold.
3. Including certain fee and incentive payments. The golf industry asks the DOL to take a broader approach to defining compensation and include all earnings an employee gains under the operation of the employer.
4. Examining regional adjustments to the standard salary level. The industry believes if done appropriately, adjusting the standard salary threshold to account for geographical cost of living differences could be very beneficial for employees and would broadly reflect local market forces. The DOL is encouraged to examine the benefits and feasibility of applying county based adjustments in high cost markets to the selected salary threshold as a way of adjusting for differences in cost of living. The industry generally supports the broader premise of using a percentage-based adjustment to adjust for varying cost of living but not the federal government's General Schedule Locality Areas as a potential model. This model does not take into account the position scope and titles of the private sector nor adequately account for seasonal businesses.
5. Ensuring criteria for seasonal businesses reflect industry realities.

GCSAA supports an increase in the overtime salary threshold that finds the right balance between employer and employee needs and supports efforts to modernize overtime pay regulations. DOL will now review all public comments submitted during the RFI and use the information as it begins creating a new proposed rule. A new Overtime Exemption Rule is expected to to be issued in late 2017 or early 2018.