Dive Brief:
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Higher Ed institutions continue to push back against the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed new overtime laws, which many say would put even more of a strain on institutions already struggling to make ends meet.
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But for many postdocs and other employees — many of whom regularly work over than 40 hours each week — the increased exemption threshold, from $23,660 to $50,440, is long overdue.
- The minimum salary had not been increased since 1975, despite significant inflation and cost of living changes. In 1975, 62% of full-time employees fell under $23,660, and today that number is only 8%.
Dive Insight:
The State University System of Florida projects it would cost $62 million each year to raise salaries to meet the threshold. Iowa Community Colleges project $12.6 million in just one quarter, while the University System of Maryland estimated $15.5 million for the same period. The Higher Education Association says “[t]hese estimates are low in that they do not account for additional costs employers would need to incur to avoid wage compression, corresponding benefits-cost impacts, and administrative costs related to implementing and administering the rule.”
As universities face “a time of limited and sometimes shrinking budgets for higher education,” higher ed groups are calling on the Labor Department to lower the threshold and adjust for regional and sector differences. There are concerns that universities would issue pink slips to a number of faculty and staff to balance already-strained budgets.
But the financial strain on faculty, particularly adjuncts who are increasingly comprising more and more of the teaching force, has been long-documented. Just last week, faculty at the University of Buffalo protested wages and conditions.