Labor Law
The overtime salary threshold, in five dates
From $455 a week in 2004 to $1,128 and back to $684: how the salary level that decides who must be paid overtime moved, and why it reverted overnight in November 2024.
The current edition
Labor Law
Labor Law tracks the written rules: bills in Congress, Department of Labor rulemakings, state employment statutes and the Federal Register pipeline. Every story states what changes, for whom and when it takes effect.
Bills, agency rulemakings and compliance requirements that change how workplaces are governed, traced from proposal to effective date.
Labor Law
Why pay frequency and final paychecks differ by state
The federal wage law sets a floor of $7.25 an hour but says almost nothing about when wages are paid. State statutes fill that space, and they diverge sharply on pay frequency, deductions, and the deadline for a final check.
Labor Law
The federal noncompete ban is dead. State bans are not.
The FTC's 2024 noncompete rule was set aside nationwide by a Texas court before its effective date. What remains: a patchwork of state statutes that void or limit noncompetes and, increasingly, training-repayment terms.
Labor Law
What the FLSA white-collar exemptions actually require
A salary alone does not make a worker exempt. The Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime carve-outs demand a fixed test: a paid-on-salary basis, a set weekly minimum, and duties that match the category by name.
Labor Law
How public comment periods reshape federal labor rules
Anyone can file a comment on a proposed overtime, safety or classification rule. Here is who files, what the agency must do with each one, and where comments actually change the text.
Labor Law
How a Department of Labor rule becomes a rule
Between a wage proposal and a binding workplace rule sits a fixed federal sequence: OIRA review, a published draft, public comments, and a final text that takes effect 30 days after publication.