Carolinas PGA Career Services Portal

PGA Career Consultant Report - May 2024

While we don't usually provide reports in consecutive months, there is a lot to talk about given the recent rulings by the Department of Labor and the Federal Trade Commission. And because we know most of you are really busy with the golf season in full swing, we'll get right to the point and provide you with some important updates.

Carolinas PGA GROW Update

We are about 1/3 of the way through the PGA GROW calendar, and it has been a great start to the year. As we mentioned last month, our first virtual presentation was in March and delivered by Career Committee Member Eric Schultz . In April, Career Committee Member Hugh Matthis delivered a presentation on the mentoring relationship, and you can find that recording HERE. This month, we will hold a Q&A style open forum session and have asked for topics / questions to be submitted. It should be a fun way to engage the group in a virtual setting.

In addition, PGA GROW cohort members have been asked to schedule a check in call with Mike Mueller, and he is working his way through all of those calls this month. Feedback provided by cohort members has been overwhelmingly positive, which has been great to hear.

Department of Labor Overtime Proposal Update

If you attended your Spring Chapter Meeting, you heard Mike speak about a proposal by the Department of Labor (DOL) to raise the salary floor for salaried, full time workers who are classified as exempt from overtime pay. In their words on April 23rd:

"The DOL issued a final ruling today that expands overtime protections for millions of the nation’s lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried employee from federal overtime pay requirements."

Effective July 1, 2024, the salary threshold will increase to the equivalent of an annual salary of $43,888 and increase to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. The July 1 increase updates the present annual salary threshold of $35,568 based on the methodology used by the prior administration in the 2019 overtime rule update. On Jan. 1, 2025, the rule’s new methodology takes effect, resulting in the additional increase. In addition, the rule will adjust the threshold for highly compensated employees. Starting July 1, 2027, salary thresholds will update every three years, by applying up-to-date wage data to determine new salary levels.

The DOL is not making any changes to existing job duties requirements or adjustments to the 10% limit on commissions that can be included in the threshold. The DOL estimates that 3.6 million additional workers will fall under the FLSA’s overtime requirements.

With the first changes scheduled for July of this year, employers will need to move quickly to assess the classification status of their workers. As with previous attempts to expand overtime requirements, we can expect this regulation to face a legal challenge before it is implemented.

Mike sent an email to all active members on April 23rd to inform them of the ruling. As you can imagine, he fielded dozens of calls from employers and employees wondering how this was going to impact them.

Noncompete Agreements Banned

Also on April 23rd, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule to promote competition by banning noncompetes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation. Under the final rule, existing noncompetes for senior executives can remain in force. Employers, however, are prohibited from entering into or enforcing new noncompetes with senior executives. The final rule defines senior executives as workers earning more than $151,164 annually and who are in policy-making positions. The ban is scheduled to go into effect on September 4, 2024.

Though the impact on PGA Professionals will likely be minimal, it is important information that we will pass along to PGA Members and employers.

Final Thoughts

We hope to see all of you soon! Mike was able to attend the Assistant's Association event at Eagle Point, the Ladies Pro-Pro at Landfall, and the Charlotte Chapter Education event at Topgolf in the past few weeks. Next up, he will be at the NC Open at Starmount, and the Harrah's Pro-Am in the mountains. Please be sure to say hello if you see him!

As always, please let us know if you have any questions.

Respectfully submitted,

Mike Mueller & Don Sweeting