Postdoc Overtime

Below is a set of links to documents, webpages, etc. regarding the recent update to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA establishes a salary threshold (among other things) below which any salaried employee needs to be paid overtime for any work done beyond a standard 40 hour work week. While many positions in higher education are traditionally held as exempt from this salary threshold, for the first time, postdoctoral researchers are now explicitly held as non-exempt.

Discussions are only beginning regarding how this will be implemented at the University of Minnesota. In the meantime, below are links to pieces of information and opinions by those involved in science and labor in higher education.

- PDA

Department of Labor Documents

U.S. Department of Labor, “Overtime Final Rule and Higher Education” https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/files/overtime-highereducation.pdf

Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, May 18 2016, “Guidance for Higher Education Institutions on Paying Overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act” https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016/highered-guidance.pdf

“Email from President Obama:  An Update on Overtime” https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/05/17/email-president-obama-ive-got-news-you-overtime?utm_medium=email&utm_content=email600-text1&utm_campaign=overtime

White House Office of the Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet:  Growing Middle Class Paychecks and Helping Working Families Get Ahead By Expanding Overtime Pay”  https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/17/fact-sheet-growing-middle-class-paychecks-and-helping-working-families-0

Commentaries on the Update

Francis Collins and Thomas Perez, Huffington Post Blog, 17 May 2016,  “Fair Pay for Postdocs:  Why We Support New Federal Overtime Rules”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/francis-s-collins-md-phd/fair-pay-for-postdocs-why_b_10011066.html

Pamela A. Reynolds, Brown Rudnick LLP, Bloomberg Law Reports, “So You Think You Know About the FLSA?  Ten Common Assumptions About the FLSA That Can Land You in Hot Water” http://www.brownrudnick.com/uploads/117/doc/Brown_Rudnick_Bloomberg_Law_Report_FLSA.pdf

Mike Lauer, Open Mike, 18 May 2016. “How New US Overtime Provisions Will Affect Postdoctoral Researchers”

https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2016/05/18/nih-flsa-2016/

National Postdoctoral Association, 19 May 2016, “Statement from the NPA on the Fair Labor Standards Act”  https://npamembers.site-ym.com/news/290212/Statement-from-the-NPA-on-the-Fair-Labor-Standards-Act.htm

Union for Postdocs, UAW 5810, 12 May 2016 “UC Postdocs Weigh in on DOL Overtime Rule in Advance of Imminent Release”  http://uaw5810.org/uc-postdocs-weigh-in-on-dol-overtime-rule-in-advance-of-imminent-release/

DrugMonkey, 18 May 2016 “Collins announces NRSA salaries will meet Obama's overtime rule.”

http://drugmonkey.scientopia.org/2016/05/18/collins-announces-nrsa-salaries-will-meet-obamas-overtime-rule/

Science, Jocelyn Kaiser, 19 May 2016, “New US overtime rules will bump up postdoc pay, but could hurt research budgets”

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/new-us-overtime-rules-will-bump-postdoc-pay-could-hurt-research-budgets

Nature, 24 May 2016, “Crunch time: Overtime pay for postdoctoral scientists is welcome — but could mean fewer positions.”

http://www.nature.com/news/crunch-time-1.19963?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

Faculty Forward, 25 May 2016, “Postdocs unite to confront challenges in higher education”

http://seiufacultyforward.org/the-challenges-facing-post-docs-in-higher-education/

The Scientist, Beryl Lieff Benderly, June 1 2016, “Postdoc mysteries”

http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/06/postdoc-mysteries

MinnPost, Adria Fernandez, June 2 2016, “New overtime rules are good for postdocs - and the missions of their universities”

https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2016/06/new-overtime-rules-are-good-postdocs-and-missions-their-universities