The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in a case directly affecting employers of auto service advisers is expected to have implications for employers of other kinds of workers as well since the Court rejected the notion that exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be construed narrowly.
The Court’s April 2 ruling in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro changes how exemptions to the FLSA have been viewed by other courts. The case was to decide whether auto service advisers should be eligible for overtime pay. The FLSA says “any salesman, partsman, or mechanic primarily engaged in selling or servicing automobiles” at covered dealerships are exempt from the overtime requirement.
