Employers looking for clarity on the salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)’s white-collar exemptions now have it. On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Wage and Hour Division formally rescinded the Biden administration’s 2024 overtime rule, which would have significantly increased the minimum salary threshold required to classify employees as exempt under the FLSA and expanded overtime eligibility to millions of previously exempt workers.

The now-vacated 2024 rule would have increased the salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees from $684 per week to $844 per week effective July 1, 2024, and then to $1,128 per week on January 1, 2025. It also would have introduced automatic updates every three years. But the 2024 rule was challenged in multiple lawsuits, and after federal district courts struck it down, the Trump administration’s DOL stopped defending it and the appeals of those rulings were dismissed.

Under the restored rule, employees generally must satisfy three requirements to qualify for the executive, administrative, or professional exemptions: the employee must perform exempt duties, be paid on a salary basis, and receive at least the required minimum salary. That minimum salary remains $684 per week, or $35,568 annually for a full-year worker. For highly compensated employees, the annual compensation threshold remains $107,432, with at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.

It remains to be seen whether the current DOL will propose new changes to the exemption thresholds in the future. Many states and localities impose higher salary thresholds or apply different duties tests, and when state or local law is more protective, that stricter standard controls. There are also other exemptions to which these salary requirements do not apply, including commissioned sales employees, certain computer professionals, and others.

For employers, the takeaway is straightforward: now is a good time to revisit exempt classifications and confirm that employees meet all three parts of the test – not just the salary threshold. The DOL’s amendment is effective immediately, and while it largely confirms what courts had already made operative, it removes any lingering uncertainty from the federal regulations themselves.

Contact any member of Larkin Hoffman’s employment law practice group with questions.