Dive Brief:

• The impact of this week's new Department of Labor FLSA overtime rule will vary from industry to industry and affect employers of all sizes and types. According to articles in the New York Times and Inside Higher Ed, small businesses and colleges/universities are not sure how the law will shake out with their workforces.
• In the Times' article, the fear is palpable within small businesses, who face a new class of workers becoming eligible for overtime but don't have the resources to figure out the impact on their profitability.
• The Inside Higher Ed piece details much confusion on the part of educators, many of whom have a negative view of the changes, which must be in place by Dec. 1.

Dive Insight:

Dan Bosch, a regulatory expert with the National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business trade group based in Washington, told the Times that federal minimum wage required congressional action, but changes to the overtime cutoff, which nearly doubled, do not. He added that as recently as last month, many small employers didn't even know the changes were coming.

As for higher education, HR and other senior leaders need to understand the complexities of the new rules and adjust. According to the Inside Higher Ed article, the usual DOL exemptions for entities such as teachers may not sit well with some adjuncts, postdocs, graduate student employees and many research assistants, many of whom had expected the new OT rule would result in pay increases.

American Council on Education President Molly Corbett Broad told Inside Higher Ed that while the council is happy the threshold ($47,476) was lower than original DOL data ($50,400), a large number of nonfaculty employees (she mentioned athletics coaches and trainers, admissions recruiters and student affairs officers) are in jobs ill-suited for hourly wage status. She said they will face "diminished workplace autonomy and fewer opportunities for flexible work arrangements and career development."

The shakeout over the new rules no doubt will continue through the Dec. 1 deadline.