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The Mandate Monitor

Overtime exemption salary threshold

Checked November 8, 2026Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division

Short answer

To treat a salaried manager, administrator or professional as exempt from federal overtime, an employer must pay at least $684 a week ($35,568 a year) on a salary basis, and the job must also pass the duties tests. Highly compensated employees need at least $107,432 a year in total pay, including at least $684 a week in salary. These are the 2019 levels: federal courts vacated the 2024 rule that would have raised them, and the U.S. Department of Labor formally restored the 2019 text on May 15, 2026.

Dates

No upcoming dates on file.

Earlier dates (4)
  • May 15, 2026: Department of Labor final rule removes the vacated 2024 text and restores the 2019 regulations, effective the day it is published (91 FR 27833). The Fifth Circuit had dismissed the appeals on May 5 and 7, 2026.
  • November 15, 2024: Federal court in the Eastern District of Texas vacates the 2024 rule nationwide. The case is Texas v. U.S. Department of Labor; a court in the Northern District of Texas vacated the rule again on December 30, 2024, and the Department of Labor has enforced the 2019 levels since.
  • July 1, 2024: 2024 rule takes effect, raising the salary level to $844 a week, with $1,128 a week scheduled for January 1, 2025. Both increases were later vacated by federal courts.
  • January 1, 2020: 2019 rule takes effect, raising the standard salary level from $455 to $684 a week and the highly compensated employee level to $107,432 a year.

What employers have to do

  1. For each employee you treat as exempt, confirm the salary is at least $684 a week. Paid less often, that is at least $1,368 biweekly, $1,482 semimonthly or $2,964 monthly.
  2. Nondiscretionary bonuses, incentive pay and commissions paid at least once a year can count toward up to 10% of the $684.
  3. Confirm each exempt employee’s actual duties meet the executive, administrative, professional or computer duties test. Job titles alone don’t decide exempt status.
  4. Pay overtime at time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek to employees who don’t meet both the salary and duties tests.

Questions employers ask

Who has to follow this?

Employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act that classify employees as exempt executive, administrative, professional or computer employees. The salary test does not apply to certain jobs, including doctors, lawyers, teachers and outside sales employees. State overtime laws can set stricter rules; see your state’s page.

All federal employer rules · Deadline calendar

Sources

  1. 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1); 29 C.F.R. § 541.600
  2. Earnings thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional exemption ($684 a week, $107,432 highly compensated, territories, computer employees), U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
  3. Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees (duties tests, 10% bonus rule), U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
  4. Final rule, Implementation of Federal Court Judgments, 91 FR 27833 (May 15, 2026), Federal Register document 2026-09839, U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (Federal Register via govinfo.gov) (read Nov 8, 2026)
  5. Overtime Pay (FLSA overtime basics, workweek rule), U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
  6. 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1): exemption for bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (read Nov 8, 2026)