The deadline for implementing the new overtime salary threshold — January 1, 2020 — is quickly approaching. Currently, nonexempt employees who earn a salary of $23,600 per year or lower must receive overtime pay. Effective January 1, 2020, the new rule will increase the threshold to $35,568. The salary threshold must be met regardless of an individual's less-than-full time status.
With the new overtime rule comes renewed questions about employee classification at independent schools. Wage and hour claims are on the rise, and properly classifying employees as exempt from or eligible for Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay and minimum wage is more important than ever. While NBOA has published numerous articles on the topic (see “related content” below), we felt schools could use additional guidance, and so have partnered with Schwartz Hannum PC to produce a new white paper, “Wage and Hour Issues at Independent Day and Boarding Schools.”
As the white paper’s authors put in their introduction:
Many independent day and boarding schools struggle to achieve and maintain compliance with federal and state wage and hour laws, specifically laws dealing with the proper classification of school employees. These laws — some of which were written nearly a century ago — too often do not apply neatly to schools’ diverse workforces, which include employees that work part-time, on a flexible schedule, fulfill residential and extracurricular duties and on contract. This white paper seeks to help human resources and other school administrators more easily classify these distinct positions, providing practical guidance and specific examples.
The new white paper covers the three primary “white-collar” exemptions and school specific roles, such as athletic coaches, health professionals, residential life employees and clergy. It is complimentary to NBOA members and available for purchase for nonmembers.
