New Federal Overtime Regulations Put on Hold -- Injunction Granted

On November 22, 2016 the National Retail Federation (NRF) announced they had secured an important preliminary injunction in our legal challenge to the Labor Department’s new overtime regulations.

The ruling, by Judge Amos Mazzant in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, halts enforcement of the overtime rule nationally until after the court has had an opportunity to complete consideration of the underlying case brought by the NRF, dozens of business group plaintiffs and 21 states.

With the rule’s effective date looming, the judge had been expected to rule quickly; but by granting the preliminary injunction, we now expect that the schedule will slow down significantly.

“The Labor Department’s overtime changes are a reckless and aggressive overreach of executive power, and retailers are pleased with the judge’s decision,” NRF Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said. “The rules are just plain bad public policy, and we are pleased that the judge is allowing time for the case to go forward before they can go into effect. We hope the judge ultimately finds in our favor, and in the meantime this timeout gives Congress a chance to take another look at the impact of these rules.”