The FLSA Overtime Rule in 2026: Where the Salary Threshold Stands Now

The FLSA Overtime Rule in 2026: Where the Salary Threshold Stands Now

If you spent late 2024 rewriting job descriptions and re-running exemption tests to prep for a $1,128-per-week salary floor, you already know how this story turned out: the increase never took effect. A federal court threw out the 2024 rule, and in May 2026 the Department of Labor formally wiped the vacated language off the books. The number that actually governs your exempt classifications in 2026 is the same one that has applied since January 2020: $684 per week. This piece lays out exactly where the federal threshold stands, why it snapped back, what the Department has signaled about the future, and where state law now sets a much higher bar than Washington does. If you manage classification, this is the settled ground you build on for the rest of the year.

TL;DR

• The federal standard salary level for the white-collar (EAP) exemptions is $684 per week, or $35,568 a year, in 2026 — unchanged from 2020.
• The 2024 rule that would have raised it to $844 (July 2024) and then $1,128 per week (January 2025) was vacated by a federal court in November 2024.
• On May 14, 2026, the DOL published a technical amendment removing the dead 2024 language and restoring the 2019 regulation.
• The highly compensated employee threshold is back to $107,432 per year.
• Several states now require a much higher salary for exemption than federal law — California and Washington both exceed $1,300 per week in 2026.
• Salary is only half the test. A defensible exemption still needs a duties test backed by accurate job documentation.

What the federal threshold is in 2026

For an employee to be exempt from federal overtime under the executive, administrative, or professional (EAP) exemptions, three things have to be true: the employee is paid on a salary basis, that salary meets a minimum level, and the job's actual duties fit the exemption. In 2026 the minimum salary level is $684 per week, which works out to $35,568 per year. That figure comes straight from the Department of Labor's earnings-threshold page, which the agency updated after the 2024 rule collapsed.

A few related numbers matter if you run a mixed workforce. The highly compensated employee (HCE) threshold is $107,432 per year, which must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis. Computer employees paid hourly can be exempt at $27.63 per hour. And there are lower special salary levels for U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and American Samoa. If your people all sit in the fifty states, the two numbers you will use most are $684 per week and $107,432 per year.

Why the number reverted

The short version: a rule got ahead of what a court would allow, and the Department cleaned up after itself.

In April 2024, the DOL finalized a rule that raised the standard salary level in two steps — to $844 per week on July 1, 2024, and to $1,128 per week on January 1, 2025 — with automatic increases every three years after that. It also lifted the HCE threshold toward $151,164. Employers spent the back half of 2024 modeling the impact and deciding whether to raise salaries or reclassify staff as non-exempt.

Then, in November 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule nationwide. The court found the Department had leaned so heavily on the salary number that it effectively displaced the duties test Congress wrote into the statute. Vacatur applied everywhere, not just to the parties in the case, so the threshold reverted to the 2019 level of $684 per week.

That left a gap between what the regulations said and what was actually enforceable. The Code of Federal Regulations still carried the struck-down 2024 figures. On May 14, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division fixed that with a technical amendment that removed the vacated language and republished the 2019 text. As Administrator Andrew Rogers framed it, the goal was to make sure the regulations "accurately reflect the proper standards and requirements that we enforce." The amendment took effect immediately on publication in the Federal Register. Nothing about your obligations changed on that date — the amendment simply made the rulebook match reality.

What this means for your classifications

If you never implemented the 2024 increase, you are already compliant on the salary prong. Your existing $684-per-week exempt employees stay exempt on that basis. Nothing to undo.

If you did raise salaries in 2024 to clear the higher bar, you now face a judgment call rather than a legal requirement. You can cut those salaries back to save budget, but that is rarely worth it. Clawing back a raise damages trust, invites attrition, and can create morale problems that cost more than the payroll savings. Most employers who moved early are leaving those salaries where they are and treating the increase as a market adjustment rather than a compliance move.

If you reclassified anyone to non-exempt in anticipation of the rule, revisit those decisions deliberately. Reclassifying someone back to exempt is legal when the role qualifies, but frequent flip-flopping signals to employees — and to a plaintiff's attorney — that your classifications are driven by convenience rather than job content. Change status only when the underlying analysis supports it, and document the reasoning.

Not sure your exempt roles would survive an audit? A structured job evaluation gives you the paper trail to defend every classification. See how PointFactors scores and documents each role.

Don't forget the duties test

The salary threshold gets the headlines because it is a single, quotable number. But the reason the 2024 rule lost in court is instructive: salary was never meant to be the whole test. An employee can earn well above $684 per week and still be non-exempt if the job's actual duties don't fit the executive, administrative, or professional definitions.

That is where most overtime liability actually hides. A "manager" who spends 90% of the week doing the same production work as their team, or a coordinator with an impressive title but no independent judgment, can fail the duties test regardless of pay. The DOL fact sheet on the white-collar exemptions spells out what each exemption requires. Titles carry no weight; documented responsibilities do.

This is exactly where disciplined job analysis pays off. When you evaluate a role against consistent, weighted factors — the level of skill it requires, the responsibility it carries, the independent judgment it demands — you produce the evidence that supports an exempt classification. That is the same rigor the point-factor method brings to internal pay decisions, and it is why a solid job evaluation process doubles as compliance insurance. If you can show that a role was scored on its real duties, you are in a far stronger position than an employer relying on a job title and a salary figure.

The state map matters more than ever

With the federal floor frozen at $684, the real action has moved to the states — and the gap is wide. Several states set their own, higher salary thresholds for the EAP exemptions, and where state law is more generous to employees, state law wins.

California requires exempt employees to earn at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, which puts the 2026 threshold around $1,352 per week — roughly double the federal figure. Washington ties its threshold to a multiple of the state minimum wage as well, landing near $1,541.70 per week in 2026. New York, Colorado, Alaska, and others also sit above the federal level, and a batch of state increases took effect on January 1, 2026.

The practical takeaway: a single national policy pegged to $684 will leave you out of compliance in your highest-cost states. If you operate in more than one state, your exemption analysis has to run state by state, using the higher of the federal or applicable state threshold for each employee. Build that logic into your salary structure and your pay grade definitions so the floor is baked in rather than checked after the fact.

Will the threshold change again?

Probably, eventually — but not on a schedule you can count on. The Department has signaled it may revisit the salary level through formal rulemaking rather than another technical fix. Any real change would have to move through a notice-and-comment process, which takes many months and invites the same legal scrutiny that sank the 2024 rule. In other words, you will get warning, and you will likely get litigation before anything binds.

For planning purposes, treat $684 per week as the stable federal number for the foreseeable future, and treat your state thresholds as the figures most likely to rise. Watch two things: DOL rulemaking notices for any new federal proposal, and your state labor agencies for annual minimum-wage-linked adjustments, most of which reset each January. The state changes are the ones that will actually move your numbers in the near term.

FAQ

What is the FLSA overtime salary threshold in 2026? The federal standard salary level is $684 per week, equal to $35,568 per year. It has been at this level since January 2020 and did not change for 2026.

Did the 2024 overtime rule ever take effect? No. The first step ($844 per week) briefly applied from July 1, 2024, but a federal court vacated the entire rule nationwide in November 2024, before the $1,128 step could take effect. The threshold reverted to $684 per week.

What did the DOL do in May 2026? The Wage and Hour Division published a technical amendment on May 14, 2026, that removed the vacated 2024 regulatory text and restored the 2019 rule. It was housekeeping to make the regulations match what is actually enforced; it did not change any employer obligation.

What is the highly compensated employee threshold now? $107,432 per year, which must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis. This also reverted from the higher figure in the vacated 2024 rule.

If a salaried employee earns more than $684 a week, are they automatically exempt? No. Salary is only one of three tests. The employee must also be paid on a salary basis and perform duties that meet the executive, administrative, or professional definitions. A high salary alone does not create an exemption.

Do state thresholds override the federal one? Where a state sets a higher salary threshold, employers must meet the state figure for employees in that state. California (about $1,352 per week) and Washington (about $1,541.70 per week) both exceed the federal level in 2026, and several other states do too.

How do I make sure my exempt classifications hold up? Document each role's actual duties and evaluate them against consistent criteria, not just the title or the paycheck. A structured job evaluation gives you defensible evidence that a role qualifies for exemption.

The bottom line

The FLSA overtime picture in 2026 is quieter than the last two years threatened to make it. Federal salary sits at $684 per week, the 2024 rule is fully unwound, and the regulations finally match enforcement. Your work now is not reacting to a moving federal number — it is making sure each exempt role genuinely fits the duties test and clears the right state threshold. Both come down to knowing what a job actually requires and being able to prove it.

That is the discipline PointFactors is built for. If your exemption calls rest on job titles and gut feel, an audit will find the soft spots. If they rest on roles scored against consistent, weighted factors, you can defend every one. Book a PointFactors demo and see how a rigorous evaluation turns your classifications from a liability into an asset.

Justin Hampton is the founder and CEO of PointFactors.