Ohio State retracts raises after repeal of overtime rule

Ohio State University announced that it will rescind recent raises for hundreds of employees, The Columbus Dispatch reported. 

The decision comes just weeks after a federal judge overturned a U.S. Department of Labor rule that increased the salary threshold necessary to exempt an employee from overtime pay. 

The rule, finalized in the spring, phased in the increase in two parts. The first phase took effect July 1 and increased the threshold at which employees were exempt from overtime pay from $35,568 to $43,888. The second phase would have taken effect Jan. 1 and increased the threshold to $58,656. About four million U.S. workers would have been impacted over all.

The second round of raises for Ohio State employees went into effect on Nov. 1 to ensure the university met the Department of Labor’s mandate. But now that the rule has been overturned, higher ed institutions are no longer required to provide raises to exempt employees from overtime pay. Admissions officers, student affairs professionals and athletic staffers were groups likely to benefit from the salary increase nationally.  

Ohio State sent notices to 306 employees Nov. 22 explaining that they will continue to receive the second pay increase through November and December, but that raise will disappear Jan. 1. Any pay raise for employees that took effect July 1 under the first phase will stay in place, a university spokesperson said. 

“We know this is disappointing, and we want to provide a six-week advance notice that will give you time to plan ahead,” the email read. “Given the reversal in the law, we will continue to focus on impact and decisions that consider all of our staff and the university.”