Tip Tuesday! A quick rundown of the key segments of DOL’s 2016 to-do list

by Tim Gould

The delay of the new final overtime rules wasn’t the only announcement the DOL made recently.  

In the fall edition of the agency’s Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, the DOL announced some of the major compliance and enforcement tasks it hopes to accomplish in the new year.

As we reported previously, the announcement that the release of the overtime rules would be delayed until at least July garnered the most attention from employers. And that announcement may have caused some of these things to fly under the radar:

3 key highlights

1. Electronic devices. The DOL is now shooting for February as the date in which it formally requests info from employers on how employees’ use of electronic devices affects work performed outside of regular office hours. If you remember, the feds initially planned on seeking this employer input by the end of August.

The proposed OT rules are a big part of why the feds are so interested in this info.
With more employees eligible for overtime under the new rules, the agency has heard concerns from employers about giving workers smartphones or allowing them to work remotely because time spent using those devices may count as “work-specific” time.

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