Officers of Research and FLSA

Minimum salary revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) issued by the U.S. Department of Labor

By
Latha Venkataraman
November 22, 2019

In late September 2019 the U.S. Department of Labor issued revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) with respect to the minimum salary threshold for overtime eligibility for employees across the country. The law, which goes into effect on January 1, 2020, will affect part-time officers of research since many do not receive an annualized salary of $35,568.

To comply with the revisions to the regulations, effective January 1, 2020 all salaried part-time officers of research must be hired with an annualized salary of at least $35,568.  The federal regulations do not permit any flexibility with this amount.

New policies for non-salaried officers of research are currently being prepared, so no officers of research should be appointed at zero salary until the new guidelines are published.

Departments and schools who currently have part-time officers of research who will be impacted by the new federal regulations have already been contacted with instructions on how the salaries of these officers of research need to be adjusted as of January 1, 2020.  Please do not hesitate to contact Carmen DeLeon or Zeid Sitnica, Assistant Provosts for Academic Appointments, if you need assistance processing these appointments.  

Officers of research whose salaried appointments are terminated because of lack of funds cannot be reappointed with zero-salary appointments.   

Please contact Pearl Spiro, Associate Provost for Academic Appointments, if you need further information.