In a significant ruling, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has set aside a Department of Labor (DOL or Department) 2024 Rule, which sought to raise the minimum salary level for exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) employees.

This election cycle, California voters rejected the minimum wage initiative Proposition 32 (Prop 32). The initiative would have provided a stair-step increase in statewide minimum wage from $16 an hour to $18 an hour by 2026.

The fate of California Proposition 32 (Prop 32) remains undecided as votes are still being counted. Prop 32 addressed whether California’s minimum wage would increase starting January 1, 2025.

On election day Massachusetts voters were given the opportunity to vote on the Fair Wage for Tipped Workers Act, a ballot measure, referred to as Question 5, that would have gradually increased pay for tipped workers until it met the state minimum wage of $15 an hour in 2029. Voters rejected the ballot measure by a nearly 30% margin. 

A Massachusetts state appellate court recently ruled a retention bonus is a form of “contingent compensation” not subject to Massachusetts’s wage laws.