Exempt employees are considered “salaried” and do not earn any overtime pay for working over 40 hours in a workweek. They must also perform certain types of job duties to qualify as exempt. At BGSU, most Administrative Staff, Faculty positions are FLSA exempt.

Nonexempt employees are considered “wage earning” and must be paid overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek (Sunday-Saturday).

On April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor announced changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that include increases to the standard salary level required before an employee could be classified as exempt from overtime pay for executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) employees and other salary-based exemptions. The changes also include a mechanism to routinely update the salary thresholds to reflect current earnings data every three years.

Currently, to be classified as FLSA exempt under the EAP exemption an employee must:

• Perform primarily executive, administrative, or professional duties as defined under DOL regulations; AND
• Earn at least $684 per week, or $35,705 annually at BGSU, paid on a salary basis.

The first phase of the final ruling will increase the exemption salary minimum effective July 1, 2024 to $43,888.

Currently exempt Administrative staff may be subject to changes based on the final ruling. You will not be affected if you are currently classified as a nonexempt employee.

Part-time employees will be impacted if they are currently classified as exempt but make less than the new salary threshold effective July 1st, while working part-time.

Teachers are FLSA exempt, regardless of their annual/weekly salary, if their “primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing, or lecturing in the activity of imparting knowledge.” See DOL Fact Sheet #17D. Most faculty positions qualify as FLSA exempt under this “teaching exemption” and will not be affected by the changes.

The Office of Human Resources, in collaboration with the Office of General Counsel, has been monitoring the DOL and developing an approach to these federal regulatory changes that comply with the law while having the least negative impact on BGSU employees. Human Resources has been analyzing all university positions and evaluating impacted job codes to determine the best approach to compliance. At this time, the University anticipates a multifaceted approach that includes the following:

• Exempt Administrative employees who make under the new threshold of $43,888 are the most likely to experience changes due to the FLSA regulation changes.
• All classified and administrative nonexempt employees and will experience no changes as a result of the new FLSA regulations. A small number of currently exempt administrative job codes may become nonexempt, overtime-eligible (pre-approval of any overtime hours will be required) and will have new timekeeping procedures. Impacted employee’s pay, benefits, and leave accrual rates will not change.

The University will continue to review and communicate changes to campus departments.

No. These changes are driven by changes to federal law that will apply to employees across the United States, not by BGSU’s policy-makers or individual departments. The University has and will continue to consult with departments across campus on factors impacting BGSU’s response to these regulatory changes. However, guidelines will be established centrally to ensure the University’s response is consistent, non-discriminatory, sustainable, and legally compliant.

In some cases, employee classifications may change from FLSA exempt to non-exempt. If you are in a position that is re-classified from exempt to nonexempt, you will become eligible to earn overtime wages if you work over 40 hours during a given week. This may change the way you report your hours worked, to document the time you are eligible for overtime earnings.

This document will guide you on logging Biweekly time

No, employees currently in nonexempt positions will not be affected.