A new staff salary threshold that determines overtime exemptions will go into effect on July 1, WKU’s human resource specialist told the staff senate on Wednesday.

In their final monthly meeting of fiscal year 2024, the staff senate filled up the SGA chambers and discussed new federal mandates and an increase in parking permit costs.

Senate chair Jordan Basham invited Michaela Daniel, WKU’s human resource specialist, to share an update on the Department of Labor’s new rulings in regards to the Fair Labor Standard Act.

The Fair Labor Standard Act authorizes the Department of Labor to establish overtime exemptions based on duties and minimum salaries of employees, Daniel said. An “exempt” employee is not eligible to receive additional pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week, while a “non-exempt” employee is eligible to receive overtime pay.

In 2019, the FLSA proposed a salary threshold of $35,568 with an automatic increase every three years,

Daniel said. This was approved and went into effect on January 1, 2020.

In 2023, a threshold of $60,209 was proposed, but the accepted minimum salary threshold will be $43,888, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024.

Effective July 1, Daniel explained, employees currently classified as “exempt”, those that are not eligible to receive overtime pay, and earn a salary below $43,888 will be reclassified as a “non-exempt” employee, those that do receive additional pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.

The employees who are part of this transition will be required to record hours on a timesheet and will change from the monthly payroll to a semi-monthly payroll.

“Instead of being paid once a month at the end of the month, your paycheck will simply be split between two paychecks, and your deductions will be split between two checks,” Daniel said.

For next year, a minimum salary threshold for $58,656 was approved by the Department of Labor and is currently set to go  into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, with automatic updates to salaries every three years.

“Legal challenges to this are already taking place,” Daniel said.

Based on previous challenges in the past, Daniel said, the new date of Jan. 1, 2025 is likely to be modified in some sort of way.

“We are keeping a close watch on it and will let you know and keep you well informed as this plays out,” Daniel said.

In order for smooth transitioning into these new changes, WKU human resources will be offering training for affected employees via Zoom on Wednesday, June 26. Affected employees will be contacted via email next week with detailed information about the new changes, Daniel said.

A separate training will be offered for supervisors of affected employees on Zoom on Thursday, June 27.

“We’re going to talk about how to fill out the timesheets, how to submit those appropriately, and how you have to take account of your time now,” Daniel said.

“How many employees are affected,” Tonya Vincent, senate member and communications officer, asked.

“I don’t have the exact number yet,” a Human Resources member said, “But it will be less than 146.”

Resources and frequently asked questions about these new changes can be found at wku.edu/hr.

In other committee reports, Secretary Morgan Moran provided an update on the cost of parking permits for all of campus that was announced at the Parking and Transportation Advisory Committee’s April 12 meeting.

“They (parking permits) were raised 10% from this year, and that is due to a $300,000 reallocation from their budget,” Moran said, “It was made at the administrative level.”

There had been no increase in parking permit costs since 2019.

According to WKU’s 2023-2024 estimated revenue, the university projected to make $1.29 million from “vehicle parking permits” this past year.

Basham encouraged everyone to watch the Board of Regents special budget meeting on Friday at 9 a.m. in Jody Richards Hall, and to stay involved in budget decision-making.

“Have conversations with leadership in your area, or if you’re leadership in your area, have conversations with the folks you work with about changes inside of the budget,” Basham said, “And just contribute to both the understanding (of) what’s going on and where we’re at.”

Other information the staff senate discussed included:

• Awarding the Christopher Ware Staff Star Award, a monthly nominated award for staff to be spotlighted for their contributions, to April McCauley, Laura Smith and Jesse Willcut
• A presentation on the new Title IV training regulations from Ena Demir, WKU’s Title IV coordinator
• A new orientation program for new university staff hires
• New staff senate members for the 2024-2025 year

The next staff senate meeting will be on July 10 at 10 a.m., and President Timothy Caboni is scheduled to appear at the staff senate on Sept. 3.

News reporter Cameron Shaw can be reached at [email protected].