Today the U.S. Senate approved Alexander Acosta as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor by a vote of 60-38.  Click here to read more background information on Acosta.  Acosta’s nomination was previously approved by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a 12-11 party line vote in March.

Chief among the issues awaiting Acosta is what position the DOL will take with respect to the new overtime rule announced by the Obama administration in 2016, which more than doubled the minimum salary threshold for the FLSA’s white collar exemptions to $47,476 annually.  After a District Court in Texas issued a nationwide injunction in December blocking the rule from taking effect, the case was appealed.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently granted the government’s request for additional time to file its final reply brief.   Stay tuned.

 

 

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Photo of Douglas J. Klein Douglas J. Klein

Douglas J. Klein is an Associate in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is engaged exclusively in the practice of labor and employment law on behalf of management.

Mr. Klein regularly appears in federal and state courts…

Douglas J. Klein is an Associate in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He is engaged exclusively in the practice of labor and employment law on behalf of management.

Mr. Klein regularly appears in federal and state courts, at arbitrations and mediations and before administrative agencies such as the Equal Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the United States Department of Labor, the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Division of Human Rights and the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Mr. Klein defends employers in a wide range of labor and employment matters such as collective and class action wage and hour cases, discrimination cases and unfair labor practice charges. He also appears on behalf of clients in representation and decertification proceedings and collective bargaining negotiations.

Mr. Klein also counsels clients on compliance with federal and state labor and fair employment laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the National Labor Relations Act, the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. He advises clients on a variety of other labor and employment issues including wage and hour compliance, facility closings, force reductions, restrictive covenants and human resources policy issues such as drug testing, social media and sexual harassment.

During law school, Mr. Klein served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Brooklyn Law School Journal of Law & Policy. He also served as an intern for the National Labor Relations Board and as a judicial intern for the Honorable Jose L. Linares, U.S. District Court of New Jersey.