UT halts pay changes after court injunction
The University of Tennessee, which began preparing to raise wages and adjust salary status for employees to comply with changes to federal regulation, is halting those plans after a federal judge issued an injunction blocking the new labor department changes in overtime pay.
Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said changes that were planned to begin today, including increasing pay for some employees and moving others from salaried to non-exempt status, have been placed on hold.
“We will continue to monitor the federal case and assess possible outcomes for our workforce,” Cheek said in an email to employees. “I know that the last several months have been uncertain and stressful for many of our employees.”
The U.S. Department of Labor in May announced it would raise the minimum salary that exempts workers from earning overtime pay for more than 40 hours per week. Previously, management, administrative and professional employees earning more than $26,660 per year could be exempted from overtime. The new rule was to raise the threshold to $47,476 on Dec. 1.