Recently, a bill was introduced in the Senate (S.1747), which seeks to expand the scope of the Fair Labor Standards Acts’ current exemption for computer employees. The bill, which is referred to as the “Computer Professional Update” Act (“CPU Act”), attempts to modernize the computer employee exemption by making it applicable to employees, who perform computer-related tasks and work that simply did not exist in the 1990s when the exemption was last modified.
The proposed CPU Act comes in response to the evolution of computer technology, and seeks to take into account changes in the use of computers. For example, the CPU Act seeks to incorporate “information technology” jobs, and would refer to work relating to the internet, intranets, and networks, among other things.
If passed, the CPU Act would result in fewer computer employees being entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
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