On November 22, 2016 US District Court Judge Mazzant granted an Emergency Motion for Preliminary Injunction and thereby enjoined the Department of Labor from implementing and enforcing the Overtime Final Rule on December 1, 2016. In its notice, the Department remains confident in the legality of the rule.

Many employers have already implemented changes in readiness for the December 1 deadline. What to do? The Wagner Law Group’s Employment Law Alert comments “If an employee has been offered a job at a higher rate because of the DOL’s rule, it may not be possible to rescind that offer because of the injunction. The employee could claim detrimental reliance. Similarly, broad reductions in compensation can create morale and employee engagement issues.”

BMWL speculates on What lies ahead? “The injunction applies until Judge Mazzant issues a full ruling on the validity of the new overtime pay regulations. Some observers have reported that they believe it is likely that Mazzant will ultimately rule that the new rule is invalid, based on the legal analysis contained in his 20-page order. Such a decision would be subject to appeal to a higher court by the Obama administration. But given its lame duck status and the transition to the Trump administration in January of 2017, an appeal by the executive branch seems doubtful.”