More than half of retail companies, 56%, still plan to comply with the planned Fair Standards Labor Act overtime rule for exempt employees on the date it was to go into effect, despite a Nov. 22 injunction that puts the plan on hold, according to a spot survey of US retailers by the Hay Group division of Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY).

The overtime rule, which was set to go into effect tomorrow, would enable exempt employees who earned less than $47,476 to be eligible for overtime time-and-a-half pay.

“This injunction came just eight days before the ruling was to go into effect and many retailers had already either communicated or implemented plans, so turning back was not an option,” said Craig Rowley, Korn Ferry Hay Group senior partner, retail and consumer. “This minimum pay was not driven by market practice and represents a significant cost to many retailers. The retailers that do not plan on making immediate changes are in a ‘wait and see’ mode.”

The survey asked, “What is your company planning to do with the implementation of the new FLSA regulations in light of the November 22nd injunction?” Responses include:

• We already implemented our changes: 31%
• We will go forward as planned and implement our changes: 25%
• We will implement changes for a portion of our employees, depending on the circumstances for each position: 21%
• We will not implement changes and will wait until final resolution of the legal case: 24%

Also, when considering what they will now do with exempt employees they planned to make non-exempt to comply with the ruling, 35% reported they will keep them exempt and not pay overtime, while 65% will make them non-exempt and pay overtime.

More than half of respondents, 51%, said that despite the injunction, they will still offer new exempt employee hires the FSLA minimum rate of $47,476, even if the new hires were in jobs that previously earned a lower base salary.

“With 59% of respondents saying the ruling will impact a moderate to significant amount of employees, this is a big issue for retailers,” Rowley said. “It has yet to be seen how exactly this will change the industry when and if the ruling goes into effect.”

The survey included 68 retailers representing nearly $1 trillion in revenue. It was conducted from Nov. 25 through Nov. 29, 2016.