Wage and Hour Division restores pre-2024 overtime exemption salary levels in federal regulations after courts vacated the 2024 rule
As of our last check on November 2, 2026, this is in effect, since May 15, 2026.
We check the Federal Register daily for later actions. We check federal court opinions for rulings on published rules weekly, on Mondays. A ruling can take time to reach us, so not finding one here does not mean there is none.
In short
- What changed
- Effective May 15, 2026, the Wage and Hour Division put the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) text for the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) white collar exemptions back to its pre-2024 version, after courts vacated the 2024 rule. The standard salary level shown in the regulations is again $684 per week, and the highly compensated employee threshold is again $107,432 per year.
- Who's affected
- Employers covered by the FLSA that treat employees as exempt executive, administrative, professional, outside sales or computer employees. The Department says it has already been enforcing these pre-2024 levels.
- What to do
- This rule creates no new duties for employers. The existing salary tests continue: exempt employees generally must be paid at least $684 per week on a salary or fee basis, and highly compensated employees at least $107,432 per year.
What changed
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From the sourceSUMMARY
Through this technical amendment, the Department is removing from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) the regulatory text from the now-vacated 2024 rule and republishing in its place the regulatory text as it existed prior to the effective date of that rule.
The rule carries out federal court judgments that vacated the Department of Labor's 2024 overtime exemption rule. It removes the 2024 text from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and republishes the text that existed before that rule took effect.
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From the sourceSupplementary Information, I.B. 2024 Part 541 Rule
with the salary level slated to increase to $844 per week on July 1, 2024, further rise to $1,128 per week on January 1, 2025
Also: Supplementary Information, I.B. 2024 Part 541 Rule
The rule also provided for automatic triennial updates to the earnings thresholds.
The 2024 rule would have raised the standard salary level to $844 per week on July 1, 2024 and to $1,128 per week on January 1, 2025, with automatic updates every three years. The courts vacated it.
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From the sourceSupplementary Information, I.C. Judicial Vacatur of the 2024 Rule
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an order vacating the 2024 rule
Also: Supplementary Information, I.C. Judicial Vacatur of the 2024 Rule
These orders remain final judgments following the dismissal of the appeal in each case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on May 5 and 7, 2026, respectively.
Two federal district courts in Texas vacated the 2024 rule, on November 15, 2024 and December 30, 2024. Those orders remain final after the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeals on May 5 and 7, 2026.
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From the source29 CFR 541.600(a)
an employee must be compensated on a salary basis at a rate of not less than $684 per week
The standard salary level in the regulations is again $684 per week for exempt executive, administrative and professional employees.
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From the source29 CFR 541.601(a)(1)
an employee with total annual compensation of at least $107,432 is deemed exempt under section 13(a)(1) of the Act
The highly compensated employee threshold in the regulations is again $107,432 in total annual compensation.
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From the sourceSupplementary Information, I.C. Judicial Vacatur of the 2024 Rule
Put simply, this action is a technical correction accounting for changes in the law that have already occurred.
Also: Supplementary Information, I.C. Judicial Vacatur of the 2024 Rule
the operative version of the Department's part 541 regulations is the version of these regulations that was in place on June 30, 2024, prior to the effective date of the 2024 rule, and which the Department has been enforcing.
The Department describes the rule as a technical correction for changes in the law that had already occurred, and says the pre-2024 regulations are the ones it has been enforcing.
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From the sourceFootnote 14
does not foreclose the Department from engaging in notice and comment rulemaking in the future to update the part 541 regulations.
The Department says this amendment does not prevent it from updating the part 541 regulations through notice and comment rulemaking in the future.
Who is affected
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Our analysisSupplementary Information, I.A. The FLSA and the Part 541 Regulations
The FLSA generally requires covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime
Also: 29 CFR 541.600(a)
To qualify as an exempt executive, administrative or professional employee under section 13(a)(1) of the Act
Employers covered by the FLSA that classify employees as exempt under the executive, administrative, professional, outside sales or computer employee exemptions are the ones whose regulations changed.
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From the source29 CFR 541.600(a)
$455 per week if employed in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands by employers other than the Federal Government, or $380 per week if employed in American Samoa by employers other than the Federal Government
Lower salary levels apply to employees in some U.S. territories when the employer is not the federal government: $455 per week in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and $380 per week in American Samoa.
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From the source29 CFR 541.600(d)
the compensation requirement also may be met by compensation on an hourly basis at a rate not less than $27.63 an hour
Computer employees may also meet the pay requirement with an hourly rate of at least $27.63.
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From the sourceFootnote 3
The salary basis and salary level tests do not apply to doctors, lawyers, teachers, and outside sales employees.
The salary tests do not apply to doctors, lawyers, teachers and outside sales employees.
What it means in practice
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Our analysisSupplementary Information, II. Procedural and Other Matters
this rule merely updates the CFR to reflect the courts' vacatur of the 2024 rule.
For employers already applying the $684 per week and $107,432 levels since the courts vacated the 2024 rule, this rule should not require any pay change. It mainly makes the published regulations match the law the Department has been enforcing.
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Our analysis29 CFR 541.600(b)
the $684-per-week requirement will be met if the employee is compensated biweekly on a salary basis of not less than $1,368, semimonthly on a salary basis of not less than $1,482, or monthly on a salary basis of not less than $2,964.
Payroll teams can use the regulation's stated equivalents for longer pay periods when checking exempt salaries: at least $1,368 biweekly, $1,482 semimonthly or $2,964 monthly.
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Our analysisFootnote 14
does not foreclose the Department from engaging in notice and comment rulemaking in the future to update the part 541 regulations.
Because the Department left the door open to a future update of these regulations, salary thresholds could change again through a later rulemaking.
What to do
AmendSignal analysis sorts these by whether this document changes them.
Already required
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From the source29 CFR 541.600(a)
an employee must be compensated on a salary basis at a rate of not less than $684 per week
Also: Supplementary Information, I.C. Judicial Vacatur of the 2024 Rule
the operative version of the Department's part 541 regulations is the version of these regulations that was in place on June 30, 2024, prior to the effective date of the 2024 rule, and which the Department has been enforcing.
To treat an employee as an exempt executive, administrative or professional employee, pay the employee on a salary basis (or fee basis for administrative and professional employees) at a rate of at least $684 per week, or the lower territorial rates where they apply.
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From the source29 CFR 541.601(a)(1)
an employee with total annual compensation of at least $107,432 is deemed exempt under section 13(a)(1) of the Act
Also: 29 CFR 541.601(b)(1)
``Total annual compensation'' must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis
To treat an employee as exempt under the highly compensated employee test, the employee must have total annual compensation of at least $107,432, including at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Worth considering
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Our suggestion29 CFR 541.600(a)
an employee must be compensated on a salary basis at a rate of not less than $684 per week
Also: Supplementary Information, I.B. 2024 Part 541 Rule
with the salary level slated to increase to $844 per week on July 1, 2024, further rise to $1,128 per week on January 1, 2025
Consider checking that handbooks, classification policies and payroll system settings reference the $684 per week salary level and the $107,432 highly compensated employee threshold, not the vacated 2024 figures.
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Our suggestion29 CFR 541.600(a)
$455 per week if employed in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands by employers other than the Federal Government, or $380 per week if employed in American Samoa by employers other than the Federal Government
If you employ exempt staff in U.S. territories, consider confirming that the territorial salary levels ($455 or $380 per week) are applied only where the regulation allows.
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Our suggestionFootnote 14
does not foreclose the Department from engaging in notice and comment rulemaking in the future to update the part 541 regulations.
Consider watching for any future Department of Labor proposal to update the overtime exemption regulations, since the Department says this amendment does not rule one out.
Open questions
The source leaves these open. We'll update this record if a later document answers them.
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Does an employer owe anything for the period from July 1, 2024 until the courts vacated the 2024 rule, when the higher $844 per week level was in effect?
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Will the Department of Labor propose new salary thresholds for the overtime exemptions?
History
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Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments Source (opens in a new tab)