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The 2026 FLSA exempt salary threshold: what $684 a week actually means

The federal salary floor for a white-collar exempt role is back to $684 a week after a 2024 increase was struck down in court. Salary is only one of three tests, and clearing it does not settle the question. Here is where the law stands, what changed, and the traps that turn a confident classification into back pay.

About a 6 minute read Last verified 2 June 2026
The short answer

As of June 2026, the federal salary floor for the executive, administrative, and professional (white-collar) overtime exemptions is $684 per week. The highly compensated employee threshold is $107,432 a year. Both come from the 2019 Department of Labor rule, put back into the regulations by a technical amendment on 14 May 2026 after a 2024 increase was vacated in court. Meeting the salary figure is necessary, but it is not enough on its own.

$684 / week
Standard EAP salary level, which works out to $35,568 a year
$107,432 / year
Highly compensated employee level, including at least $684 a week on a salary basis
The rule in one idea

A salary is one test of three

A common and expensive belief is that putting someone on salary makes them exempt from overtime. It does not. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a role qualifies for a white-collar exemption only when it clears all three of the tests below. Miss any one and the employee is non-exempt, which means overtime pay for every hour past 40 in a week.

The three tests, all required
1
Salary basisThe employee is paid a fixed, predetermined amount each pay period that does not rise or fall with the quality or quantity of work. Docking pay for partial-day absences or for a slow week can break this.
2
Salary levelThat fixed amount is at least $684 a week. Up to 10 percent of the floor can come from nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, or commissions paid at least once a year.
3
DutiesThe actual day-to-day work fits one of the defined exemptions. This is where most misclassifications hide, because the job title carries no weight. The Department of Labor looks at what the person really does.
The duties test

What each exemption actually asks

The three main white-collar exemptions each have their own duties test. A role has to fit one of them. There are also narrower exemptions for outside sales and for certain computer roles, which can be paid hourly at not less than $27.63 an hour instead of on a salary.

Executive Exemption

The primary duty is managing the business or a recognized department, the role regularly directs the work of at least two full-time employees, and the person has authority to hire and fire or real weight in those decisions.

Administrative Exemption

The primary duty is office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations, and the role exercises discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance.

Professional Exemption

The work requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, usually gained through prolonged specialized instruction (the learned professions), or it is original and creative work in an artistic field.

The recent history

What happened to the 2024 overtime rule

In April 2024 the Department of Labor published a rule that would have raised the federal floor in two steps, to $844 a week on 1 July 2024 and to $1,128 a week on 1 January 2025. A federal court in Texas vacated the entire rule on 15 November 2024, so the first step was in force for roughly four months and the second never took effect.

The agency dropped its appeal and, on 14 May 2026, issued a technical amendment that removed the 2024 language from the Code of Federal Regulations and restored the 2019 numbers. The Department has signaled it may write a new rule, but nothing is on the books yet. The practical takeaway is simple: plan around the current $684 a week, and do not classify anyone against a number that is not law. If a new proposal appears, you will have time to react before it takes effect.

State law

Your state may set a higher bar

The federal figure is a floor, not a ceiling. When a state sets a higher exempt salary threshold, that higher number governs for employees who work in that state. Several states sit above $684 a week, including California, which ties the exempt salary to twice the state minimum wage, along with New York, Washington, Colorado, Maine, and Alaska, and a few set their own figures for computer professionals.

These numbers move most years, often on 1 January. Check the current threshold for every state where you employ people rather than relying on the federal floor, and remember that a few states also apply stricter duties tests than the federal rule does.

State thresholds and duties tests change on their own schedule. Treat any per-state figure you read, here or anywhere, as a starting point and confirm the current number from the state labor agency before you classify a role.

Where it goes wrong

Three traps behind most misclassifications

  • A title is not a test.Manager, coordinator, or analyst on a business card means nothing if the daily work does not match a duties test. The label does not create the exemption.
  • Paying a salary is not the same as being exempt.A salaried employee who does not clear a duties test is still non-exempt and still owed overtime. Salary settles one test, not the classification.
  • Improper deductions can sink a valid exemption.Docking an exempt employee’s pay for partial days or for working less than a full week can break the salary basis and put the whole classification at risk.

Pause and get help on the close calls. Misclassification is one of the more expensive HR mistakes to get wrong. A misclassified employee can be owed back overtime for two to three years, and the FLSA allows an equal amount again in liquidated damages, plus the worker’s legal fees. Any reclassification, any borderline role, and any decision you are unsure about is worth a short conversation with employment counsel before you act.

Sources

Where these figures come from

Primary sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet 17A. Exemption for executive, administrative, professional, computer, and outside sales employees under the FLSA. The source for the $684 a week salary level, the $107,432 highly compensated level, the three tests, the 10 percent bonus allowance, and the rule that job titles do not determine exempt status. dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17a-overtimeChecked 2 June 2026
  2. U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division. Technical amendment restoring the 2019 regulations, announced 14 May 2026, which removed the vacated 2024 language and republished the operative $684 and $107,432 thresholds. dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20260514Checked 2 June 2026
  3. 29 CFR Part 541. The white-collar exemption regulations themselves, where the salary basis test, the salary level, and each duties test are defined. ecfr.gov, title 29, part 541Checked 2 June 2026
Put it to work

Tools that use these rules

Carry this into a real decision

Wage and Hour Classification Kit. Walks a role through the salary and duties tests and records the reasoning, so the classification is documented if anyone ever asks. Find it at truestephr.com.

Overtime vs New Hire and Employee Cost calculators. If you are weighing overtime against adding a role, these free tools put real numbers on it. Both are at truestephr.com.

Questions

Common questions

No. A salary satisfies one of three tests. The role still has to clear the salary level of $684 a week and a duties test. A salaried employee who does not meet a duties test is non-exempt and owed overtime.

It is the federal floor. Several states set higher exempt salary thresholds, and where a state’s bar is higher, it governs for employees working in that state. Check the current figure for each state where you have staff.

It would have raised the federal floor in two steps. A federal court vacated it on 15 November 2024, and on 14 May 2026 the Department of Labor formally restored the 2019 thresholds. The $684 a week figure is what governs federal enforcement now.

At least once a year, and any time a role’s duties change, a state threshold rises, or the federal rule moves. Keep a short written record of why each exempt role qualifies, so a review later starts from your reasoning rather than a blank page.