A Texas judge has granted an injunction blocking the Department of Labor’s overtime rule, which would have required businesses nationwide to pay overtime to more than four million employees by doubling the salary threshold below which workers are eligible for that pay.
The regulation was scheduled to take effect Dec. 1.
The National Federation of Independent Business, which opposed the regulation, said 44 percent of small businesses employ at least one employee who would be eligible for overtime pay under the rule.
The NFIB was part of a coalition of business groups that sued to block the rule’s implementation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. More than 20 state attorneys general joined together to also do so in the same jurisdiction.
The court combined the cases. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant granted the states’ petition and issued an injunction. Next, the court will determine the legality of the rule.
