Less than two weeks before it was supposed to get implemented, a federal judge in Texas halted the Department of Labor’s new federal overtime rule.

This new rule would have doubled the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) salary threshold for exemption from overtime pay.  Twenty-one states submitted an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction back in October to stop the rule from passing, claiming the DOL exceeded its authority.  These cases were consolidated with another lawsuit filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among other business groups, which raised similar objections to the rule. 

This new overtime rule was set to take effect on December 1 and would have significantly raised the salary threshold.  Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas said the preliminary injunction “preserves the status quo while the court determines the department’s authority to make the final rule as well as the final rule’s validity.”

Many human resources experts and professionals have rallied together to showcase the difficulties of the rule and the negative impacts it would have had if it took effect.

The preliminary injunction isn’t permanent, though.  While the overtime rule didn’t take effect on the first of this month, that doesn’t mean it won’t take effect at a later date.  Employers will be able to follow the existing overtime rules until further direction is given. 

Some employers have already either raised exempt employees’ salaries or already reclassified employees who are still earning less than nonexempt workers.  HR experts are urging these employers to leave these decisions in place, especially if they already provided salary increases.  In the event there are exempt employees who are going to be reclassified but haven’t been yet, these are cases where employers should consider holding back until litigation plays out.