DOL formally reinstates pre-2024 salary thresholds after court rulings

On May 14, 2026, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a technical amendment formally reinstating the 2019 regulation establishing the salary threshold for exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These overtime exemptions are commonly referred to as the “white-collar” exemptions.

Three-part test

The DOL has long maintained a three-part test for an employee to be exempt from overtime compensation under the white-collar exemptions. First, the employee’s primary duty must involve executive, administrative, or professional work as defined by the regulations—this is called the duties test. Next, the employee must be paid a predetermined, fixed salary that cannot be reduced based on the amount or quality of the work performed, called the salary basis test. Finally, the employee’s salary must generally satisfy a minimum amount established by the DOL, called the salary level test.

Salary threshold increases

In 2004, the DOL set the salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions at $455 per week. That same year, the agency created an alternative test for highly compensated employees—the HCE exemption—that paired a less stringent duties test with a substantially higher annual compensation threshold. Employees earning at least $100,000 annually qualified for the HCE exemption.