Tag: Participates

  • CUPA-HR Participates in OIRA Meeting on FLSA Overtime Rule – CUPA-HR

    CUPA-HR Participates in OIRA Meeting on FLSA Overtime Rule – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | April 9, 2024

    On April 4, CUPA-HR’s government relations team, President and CEO Andy Brantley, and four national board members met with officials at the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to discuss the upcoming overtime regulations to increase the minimum salary threshold. During the call, the group expressed CUPA-HR’s broad concerns with the rule, as well as the specific challenges implementation of the new rule could create for different types of institutions in various areas of the country.

    On March 1, DOL sent the final rule to update the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime regulations to OIRA for review. As previously noted, the OIRA review marks one of the last steps required before DOL can publish the final rule for public viewing. While the rule is at OIRA, the text and details of the final rule are not public, but interested stakeholders are able to request meetings with the administrator to discuss the proposed changes.

    During the meeting, Andy Brantley and Bailey Graves from the CUPA-HR government relations team reiterated the concerns that were addressed in CUPA-HR’s comments submitted in November 2023. The comments made the following four recommendations for DOL to consider prior to issuing a final rule:

    1. DOL should not update the salary threshold at this time.
    2. DOL should lower the proposed minimum salary threshold and account for room and board.
    3. DOL should not implement automatic updates to the salary threshold.
    4. DOL should extend the effective date of any final rule implementing a higher salary threshold.

    Brantley and Graves were joined by CUPA-HR Board Chair Jami Painter, Chair-Elect Robyn Salvo, and board members El pagnier Hudson and Kristi Yowell, who discussed the impact of these potential changes on employee exempt/nonexempt status and employee morale and benefits. They also discussed the impact of the rule on higher education’s efforts to offer competitive wages to employees, the difficulties of having employees in areas with different costs of living, and the impact this rule could have on an institution’s ability to provide student services.

    Looking Forward

    It is unknown when the final rule will clear OIRA review and be published for public viewing. OIRA review typically lasts 30-60 days, and OIRA meetings are currently set through April 11. However, the Biden administration has incentive to move quickly to publish the final rule in order to avoid the rule being overturned via legislation if Republicans win Congress and the White House in the November election.

    The final rule will also likely face legal action once it is published, which could delay the effective date or stop the rule from going into effect in its entirety. CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of when the final rule clears OIRA review and is published, as well as any legal challenges that may arise.



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  • CUPA-HR Participates in DOL Overtime Regional Listening Sessions – CUPA-HR

    CUPA-HR Participates in DOL Overtime Regional Listening Sessions – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | June 14, 2022

    In May and June, CUPA-HR participated in five regional listening sessions hosted by the Department of Labor (DOL) on the anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update the criteria for the “executive, administrative and professional” exemptions for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The listening sessions provided regional employers the opportunity to discuss their support or concerns with changes to the minimum salary level required to be exempt from overtime payments under the FLSA.

    CUPA-HR joined each of the five sessions to express concerns with the timing of the proposed increase to the minimum salary threshold to qualify for exempt status under the FLSA. Specifically, we raised concerns with the timing of such changes, as they would come while institutions, employees and students are still grappling with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a tight labor market and historically high inflation. Additionally, several CUPA-HR members joined the calls to raise similar concerns and discuss issues more specific to their individual institutions.

    Though many in higher ed and other industries are expressing similar concerns about raising the overtime minimum salary threshold level at this time, labor unions and worker advocates have led efforts to both raise the minimum salary threshold and expand coverage of overtime regulations to workers currently not covered under the FLSA. Notably, the National Education Association sent a letter to DOL urging the agency to remove the teacher exemption that currently exempts teachers from the FLSA requirements to receive overtime payments regardless of how much they are paid.

    The overtime NPRM that was targeted for release in April 2022 is now expected to come anytime within the next couple of months, though more information on when it will be released may be included in the anticipated Spring 2022 Regulatory Agenda. CUPA-HR will continue to monitor for the NPRM and will keep members apprised of any updates to the overtime regulations.



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  • CUPA-HR Participates in Hill Meetings With House Ways and Means Committee Member Offices – CUPA-HR

    CUPA-HR Participates in Hill Meetings With House Ways and Means Committee Member Offices – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | May 10, 2022

    Over the last month, CUPA-HR’s government relations team joined the American Council on Education (ACE) and other higher education organizations in virtual Capitol Hill meetings to discuss tax priorities for the higher education community. Meetings have been held with staffers of Members of the House Ways and Means Committee to advocate for tax policies and proposals to alleviate various burdens placed on students, employees and institutions alike.

    Specifically, the meetings have allowed the higher education community to encourage members’ action on the following issues:

    • Supporting the extension and expansion of the universal, non-itemizer charitable deduction;
    • Repealing the taxability of scholarships and grant aid, specifically for the Pell Grant and other scholarships for graduate and medical students;
    • Enhancing higher ed tax credits like the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit;
    • Repealing the endowment tax;
    • Expanding and modernizing tax-free employer-provided educational assistance as granted under Section 127 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC);
    • Reinstating advance refunding of tax-exempt bonds and expanding debt issuance with a Direct Pay Bonds program;
    • Creating “lifelong learning and training accounts” to provide workers and employers the opportunity to make tax-free contributions to pay for future training and credentials; and
    • Repealing the unrelated business income tax “basketing” provision.

    In June 2021, ACE sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee leadership requesting these proposals and others be included in the American Jobs and American Families Plans. CUPA-HR signed onto this letter, along with several other higher education groups.

    CUPA-HR joined the most recent meetings specifically to advocate for the Section 127 expansion and modernization. Section 127 of the IRC is an educational assistance program that allows employers to pay or reimburse an employee tuition or student loan repayments on a tax-free basis up to $5,250. CUPA-HR previously advocated for the program to include student loan repayments, which was granted under the 2020 CARES Act and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, as well as to increase the annual exclusion cap of $5,250 to an amount closer to $12,000, to expand coverage to employee’s partners and dependents, and to expand coverage to gig workers and independent contractors, all of which were a focus during the meetings.

    CUPA-HR will continue to participate in these meetings and will keep members apprised of any legislative proposals that result from these meetings.



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