TURF INDUSTRY NEWS Overtime Rules Change December 1

Te U.S. Department of Labor announced in May that new rules governing overtime pay will take effect on December 1. Te new salary level required for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions will be $913 per week, which comes to $47,476 per year. Tis means anyone being paid a salary of this much or less is subject to overtime pay. Tis replaces the threshold of $23,660 per year. Employers have four choices. Tey can pay time and a half for any work over 40 hours per week. Tey can raise employees’ salaries above the threshold. Tey can limit employees to 40 hours per week. Tey can employ some combination of these. December 1 is a Tursday, which means that salary increases to ensure continued use of the exemption for weekly/biweekly employees must be made for the workweek (or pay period) that includes December 1. Te salary level will be increased automatically every three years, starting in 2020. Te amount will be based on the 40th percentile of full-time salaried workers in the region in which the salary level is lowest (historically, the South). Te Department will publish the information in the Federal Register in advance of the increase. It is anticipated that the salary will be $51,000 per year on January 1, 2020. Te National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) is working with the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO) Coalition and disseminating information on these rules. Te PPWO is asking their members to tell Congress that S. 2707 and H.R. 4773, the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act, will provide relief from this rule.

19th Edition of “Farm Estate & Business Planning” Book Released

Te book that was first published in 1973 and has nearly 177,000 copies in circulation has been revised. Te book updates the 26 chapters with recent developments in farm and ranch business planning since the 18th Edition was published in 2014. Te book is written in easy-to-read language and is designed for use by farm and ranch families. It is an excellent guide for those who want to make the most of the state and federal income and estate tax laws to assure the least expensive and most efficient transfer of their estates to their children and heirs. It contains detailed advice on assuring worry-free retirement years, using wills, trusts, insurance and outside investments as estate planning tools, ways to save on estate settlement costs and federal

TPI Turf News July/August 2016

estate tax, as well as suggestions for avoiding arguments and friction in the family. Te book is written by Dr. Neil E. Harl, who retired from the Iowa State University faculty after 40 years of service. Te book is now available in print and PDF files, readable on all digital devices. Te book can be purchased at www.agrilawpress.com and Amazon.com. It also also be ordered by emailing robert@agrilawpress.com or calling 360-200-5666.

TPI Member Makes Golf Digest List of Innovators & Influencers of 2016

Golf Digest named David Doguet, turfgrass breeder and president of Bladerunner Farms in Poteet, Texas, to its List of Innovators & Influencers of 2016. Doguet is well-known for his work in developing advanced varieties of zoysiagrass. Among Doguet’s zoysias are: Zeon Zoysia, which was planted on the Olympic Golf Course in Rio for this summer’s Olympic Games; and L1F, which the Tiger Woods Design team used at Tiger’s first U.S. course, Bluejack National. Te Golf Digest article on Futurists explains Doguet’s contribution to the game of golf: “Doguet's various crossbred strains—finer-bladed, more disease and insect resistant, less thirsty … (have) made zoysia golf ’s new super grass.” Editors of Golf Digest introduce the Innovators & Influencers section this way: “Meet the Innovators and Influencers changing the game, whether you like it or not … What golf might look like 100 years from now is uncertain, but we do know it's the people with the bravery to challenge traditions who will shape it … whose work could change the game you love beyond recognition. For the better, we think.” Te list was published in the May issue of Golf Digest. To read the full story, visit Golf Digest online at: http://www. golfdigest.com/story/innovators-and-influencers-of-2016.

OPEI Welcomes Michael Ross as Director of Standards

Ross will be involved with electrical product standards development with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). He also will communicate with key regulatory agencies, such as the Department of Energy, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and monitor regulatory issues on behalf of OPEI. He will be staff executive for the Electric Products Committee.

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