On May 18th 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its Final Rule updating its regulations to increase the salary threshold required to qualify for the federal Fair Labor Standards Act’s “white collar” exemptions. The DOL estimates that the updated regulations, which more than double the minimum salary for a white collar exemption to apply, will cause 4.2 million currently exempt workers to be entitled to minimum wage and overtime protection, absent intervening action by their employers, at a cost of $1.2 billion in additional overtime pay in the first year alone. Employers must be in compliance with the new regulations by December 1, 2016, when they become effective. For employers who have not yet begun to grapple with the myriad implications of the new regulations, there is no time to lose. Here’s why.