Stephen G. Bronars, PhD

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) September 8, 2023 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) increases the standard salary level for the white-collar exemption to the 35th percentile of the pay distribution of full-time, non-hourly workers in the South Census region and imposes automatic updates to the salary threshold every three years.  The automatic adjustments would use the most recent quarterly data from the Current Population Survey to determine the 35th percentile of the pay distribution for full-time non-hourly workers in the South Census region. 

The Department of Labor’s September 8, 2023 Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) increases the salary threshold for the white-collar FLSA exemption.  In the NPRM, the Department explains that the purpose of the salary level test is to serve as an initial screening tool.[1]  It then goes on to downplay the extent to which the new threshold will increase the fraction of white-collar workers who will fail the salary level test by stating “the number of salaried white-collar employes for whom salary would be determinative of their non-exempt status and who earn at least the long test salary level – 3.2 million – is nearly ten times smaller than the number of salaried white-collar workers for whom job duties would continue to be determinative of their exemption status…”[2] 

Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the anticipated new salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act, expected to be proposed in May.

Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the Federal Trade Commission’s stance that non-compete clauses reduce worker earnings across industries, saying that research doesn’t support this conclusion.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus recently proposed an increase in the salary threshold that they claim will reach $82,732 by 2026 — $1,591 per week. Businesses required to accurately record the work hours and accurately calculate regular rates of millions of managers and professionals, many of whom receive bonuses and commissions, are likely to face a considerable increase in compliance costs.

In this article, Dr. Stephen Bronars explains that a single $56,000 nationwide salary threshold would likely result in the reclassification of many managers and professionals in low-wage states, while having much less impact in high-wage states and metropolitan areas.

In this article Dr. Stephen Bronars quantifies the impact of the new $15 minimum wage for three contractor jobs that were identified by the White House in its announcement of the executive order. He shows that the impact of a $15 minimum wage for janitors, cafeteria attendants and nursing assistants varies substantially by metropolitan area.

Headlines announcing impending layoffs and furloughs abound as the economy declines due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus and a downturn in the oil and gas sector. Depending on the demographics of their employees, some firms may be particularly susceptible to risk of adverse impact in layoff and furlough decisions.

Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster discuss the Department of Labor's recent proposal to increase the HCE salary threshold from $100,000 to $147,414. 

In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

In anticipation of future civil class actions related to no-poach and wage-fixing agreements, Edgeworth Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Deborah Foster have published a two-part primer in Law360 on wage analyses that are frequently used in employment discrimination cases and will become increasingly relevant as labor issues cross over into the antitrust arena.

In this article written for the ABA Consumer Financial Services Committee Newsletter Dr. Stephen Bronars explores the implications of behavioral economics on consumer financial services law.

The DOL's estimate of an additional 2.5 percent increase in the new salary threshold over three adjustments may not be accurate and likely understates its magnitude.

The pay ranges specified in the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's proposed EEO-1 forms are broader than the pay differences it aims to detect. While the goal of determining instances of pay discrimination is sensible, the authors show that the proposed data collection system is unlikely to accomplish the objective.

In this Law360 article, Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Nathan Woods discuss the possibly profound consequences of using external benchmarks when conducting analyses of age discrimination allegations.

Dr. Stephen Bronars publishes “Ten Years after Katrina: African Americans in New Orleans and the Evacuation Divide” in Forbes, analyzing residents’ access to vehicles ten years after hurricane Katrina.

Drs. Bronars, Foster, and Woods discuss the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed salary test for the white collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Drs. Deborah K. Foster, Stephen G. Bronars, and Nathan D. Woods published the article “Approaches to Hourly Rates Under DOL White Collar Rules” in Law360.

Dr. Stephen Bronars and Chuck Fields, along with Christopher Craig of O’Melveny & Myers, co-authored the article in Law360.

The NPRM claims the new salary threshold for the EAP exemption “will, in combination with the standard duties test, better define and delimit which employees are employed in a bona fide EAP capacity in a one-test system.”  However, the new salary threshold is set at the 35th percentile of the non-hourly pay distribution in the South region, which is $1,059 per week.  The non-hourly pay distribution includes many blue-collar workers and white-collar workers explicitly excluded from the FLSA (such as teachers), raising doubts as to whether an arbitrary threshold from this distribution has any ability to determine which EAP employees are bona fide.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) NPRM provides estimates of the number of employees affected by the proposed salary test level increases, but projections are only as good as the data on which they are based.  In fact, there is no data currently collected that would enable an accurate and reliable estimate of the number of employees who are subject to the FLSA or how many employees are classified as exempt, much less an estimate of those that would be impacted by the proposed changes. 

The NPRM touts that an estimated 3.4 million employees will “gain overtime protection” under the proposed regulations.  As described in our post on October 25, it is unlikely that the new rule will increase compensation of the re-classified employees.

The Department of Labor claims that the increased salary test level will “give employees higher earnings in the form of transfers of income from employers to employees,” but that assertion is inconsistent with economic reasoning.  Even the economic studies cited in the NPRM cast doubt on that assumption. 

On September 8, 2023, a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) from the Department of Labor was published in the Federal Register titled “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees.”

The Department of Labor’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the white-collar exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes an initial regulatory flexibility analysis that is required for all regulations that will have a material impact on small businesses.  In that analysis, the Department concludes that 1.3 million workers employed by between 179,700 and 1.3 million small businesses will be impacted by the substantial increase in the white-collar exemption salary threshold in the NPRM.  However, that analysis almost certainly understates the impact on small businesses.

Dr. Stephen Bronars of Edgeworth Economics analyzes the Federal Trade Commission’s stance that non-compete clauses reduce worker earnings across industries, saying that research doesn’t support this conclusion.

Farmers and ranchers who hire foreign-born seasonal workers on H-2A visas will face prevailing wages in 2023 that are about 9.36% higher, on average, than the prevailing wages for H-2A workers in 2022.

Federal and state labor laws limit which employees can legally be paid a salary independent of hours worked. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the Federal law requiring that certain workers receive overtime compensation, at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, for all hours of work above 40 each week.

On July 1 of each year, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) publishes prevailing wage rates and salaries that establish a floor for what U.S. businesses must pay foreign workers hired under H-2B and other work visa programs.

We gathered our Labor and Employment experts together and asked them:  What is the “Great Resignation,” and what does it mean for employers?

Excerpts of their wide-ranging conversation were lightly edited for clarity and reported here.

Dr. Stephen G. Bronars and Sushrut Jain discuss some of the major areas of labor and employment litigation, and the strategies that can help HR managers proactively manage the evolving legal challenges in an unprecedented labor market.

Join expert labor economists from Edgeworth Economics and Kevin White, co-chair of the Hunton Andrews Kurth Labor and Employment team, on July 21 for this complimentary webinar addressing key legal issues arising in the COVID-19 world of which employers should be aware.

Dr. Stephen Bronars will speak at the 56th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), to be held February 4-6, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Dr. Stephen Bronars will be a featured presenter at the 15th Annual Employment Practices Liability Insurance ExecuSummit. Dr. Bronars will join the panel entitled, "Pay Parity and the Revival of the EEOC Pay Data Survey."

Edgeworth Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars will join a panel discussion focused on key issues involving the US H-2B visa program. 

Edgeworth Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars will present “A Labor Economist’s View of the Problems with AEWR,” on the first day of the 55th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE), to be held February 5-7, 2019 in Washington, DC. 

Edgeworth Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars will discuss the impact of wage and employment claims on the bankruptcy process, including the decision of a company to file a bankruptcy, and issues involved in bankrupty and restructuring. 

Dr. Stephen Bronars is to present at the 89th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

Dr. Stephen Bronars is to present at the 54th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

Dr. Stephen Bronars will speak on a panel examining the use of proposed new HMDA data fields in empirical analyses.

Join Drs. Xiaoling Ang and Stephen Bronars for an ABA webinar discussing how provisions of the CFPB's proposed payday loan rule are likely to affect both consumers and payday lenders.

ACI will host its annual National Forum on Employment Discrimination Litigation, where Dr. Stephen Bronars will discuss economic damages and statistical issues in employment discrimination cases.

Dr. Stephen Bronars will discuss the Final Rule on Overtime Exemption under FLSA during a panel session on wage and wage-related issues that can impact the viability of a business and impede a successful Plan of Reorganization. 

Join Drs. Stephen Bronars, Deborah Foster, and Nathan Woods as they discuss the potential impact of the DOL's white collar exemption rule changes in this complimentary webinar.

Join Drs. Stephen Bronars, Deborah Foster, and Nathan Woods as they discuss the potential impact of the DOL's white collar exemption rule changes in this complimentary webinar. 

Edgeworth Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars was cited in a  Bloomberg Law article, "Job Market Is Tougher for Recent College Grads Than All Workers." Read more>

Dr. Stephen Bronars cited in multiple sources regarding trends in US farm labor supply.

On June 8, 2016, Edgeworth Economics Partner Dr. Stephen Bronars was called to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest regarding the economic impact of the H-2B Temporary Foreign Worker Program on the wages of US workers.

Edgeworth Economics Partners Dr. Stephen Bronars and Dr. Nathan Woods have published an article in Law360 entitled "How Estimates Can Miss The Mark On Age Discrimination."

Edgeworth Economics is pleased to announce that Dr. Stephen G. Bronars has joined the firm as a Partner in the Washington, D.C., office.