2022 Overtime Salary Threshold
For 2022, the Overtime Salary Threshold figures are $684 (Standard salary level per week), $35,568 (Standard salary level, annual equivalent), $107,432 (Highly compensated employee total annual compensation) and 4 more figures below.
| Item | Amount | Annual equivalent | Hourly basis | Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the CNMI | American Samoa | Motion picture industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard salary level | $684 | $35,568 | - | - | - | - |
| Highly compensated employee total annual compensation | $107,432 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Compensation required for computer employees | - | - | $27.63 | - | - | - |
| Special salary level per week | - | - | - | $455 | $380 | - |
| Special base rate per week | - | - | - | - | - | $1,043 |
A dash is a figure this site has not published for that row, not an amount of zero.
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Earnings thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional exemption from minimum wage and overtime protections under the FLSA (DOL)Verified 2026-09-03
Compared with 2021
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2021.
| Item | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard salary level per week | $684 | $684 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Standard salary level, annual equivalent | $35,568 | $35,568 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Highly compensated employee total annual compensation | $107,432 | $107,432 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Compensation required for computer employees, hourly basis | $27.63 | $27.63 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Special salary level per week, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the CNMI | $455 | $455 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Special salary level per week, American Samoa | $380 | $380 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
| Special base rate per week, motion picture industry | $1,043 | $1,043 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Standard salary level
Compensation required for computer employees
Special salary level per week
Special base rate per week
$27.63$35,568
One dot per column of the table, on a scale running from the smallest of these amounts to the largest. The scale is logarithmic - each faint line is ten times the one before it, so that the amounts crowded at the low end stay far enough apart to read. The table states which dot is which.
Who it applies to
Employers and employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act who use the executive, administrative, or professional exemption to classify workers as exempt from overtime and minimum wage protections.
What changed this year, and why
The Department of Labor's salary thresholds for the executive, administrative, and professional exemption from FLSA overtime and minimum wage requirements remained at $684 per week ($35,568 annually) for 2022, unchanged from 2021. The total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees remained at $107,432 for 2022, also unchanged from 2021.
Common questions
- What salary must an exempt executive, administrative, or professional employee earn in 2022?
- At least $684 per week, which is equivalent to $35,568 per year.
- What is the total annual compensation threshold for a highly compensated employee in 2022?
- $107,432 per year, which must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Being paid a salary means a predetermined amount that does not vary
To be paid on a salary basis means receiving a predetermined and fixed salary each pay period that does not change based on how much work is done or how well it is performed. This guaranteed amount must be at least $684 per week ($35,568 annually) for most executive, administrative, and professional employees. The salary basis requirement ensures workers receive their full salary for any week they work, with only narrow exceptions allowing deductions. If an employer reduces pay based on the quality or quantity of work, the employee is not paid on a salary basis and cannot qualify for the overtime exemption regardless of duties performed.
required each of the following three tests to be met: (1) The employee must be paid a predetermined and fixed salary that is not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of work performed (the ``salary basis test''); (2) the amount of salary paid must meet a minimum specified amount (the ``salary level test''); and (3) the employee's job duties must primarily involve executive, administrative, or professional duties as defined by the regulations (the ``duties test'').
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
The salary is only half of it: the duties test
Meeting the salary threshold is only half the test. The employee must also satisfy the duties test, which examines whether the employee's primary duty consists of executive, administrative, or professional tasks. Primary duty means the main, most important work the employee performs, not just any task they occasionally handle. The standard duties test looks at the relative importance of exempt duties compared to other work, the amount of time spent on exempt tasks, the employee's freedom from direct supervision, and the relationship between their salary and wages paid to nonexempt workers doing similar work. Even employees earning well above $684 per week or $35,568 per year are entitled to overtime if their primary duty is not exempt work.
The Department believes that the standard duties test, which focuses on whether an employee's ``primary duty'' consists of EAP tasks, can appropriately distinguish bona fide EAP employees from nonexempt workers.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
The shorter test for highly compensated employees
Highly compensated employees are subject to a simpler, more relaxed duties test. To qualify, an employee must earn at least $107,432 in total annual compensation and customarily and regularly perform at least one of the exempt duties of an executive, administrative, or professional employee. The employee must also receive at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis, but the remainder of the total annual compensation can include commissions, nondiscretionary bonuses, and other nondiscretionary compensation. This streamlined test applies only to employees whose primary duty includes performing office or non-manual work. Management production line workers and employees performing repetitive manual work cannot qualify under this test regardless of how much they earn.
To meet the HCE test, an employee must earn at least the amount specified in the regulation in total annual compensation and must customarily and regularly perform any one or more of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive, administrative, or professional employee.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
When a bonus can count toward the salary level
Employers may count nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, and commissions toward up to 10 percent of the standard salary level. This means that for employees who must earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 annually), employers can credit qualifying payments toward up to 10 percent of that standard salary level, as long as those amounts are paid annually or more frequently. If an employee's base salary falls below the threshold but nondiscretionary bonuses bring total weekly compensation to at least the required level, the employee can still satisfy the salary requirement. However, these payments do not reduce the amount that must be paid each pay period on a salary or fee basis without regard to bonuses.
The Department is also revising the regulations to permit employers to count nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives, and commissions toward up to 10 percent of the required salary level for the standard exemption, so long as employers pay those amounts on an annually or more frequent basis.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
Workers the exemption never reaches, whatever they are paid
The executive, administrative, and professional exemption does not apply to blue collar workers, no matter how much they earn. Non-management production line workers and employees who perform work involving repetitive operations with their hands, physical skill, and energy cannot qualify for the exemption. The overtime exemption is limited to white collar workers whose primary duty is executive, administrative, or professional work. Even if a manual laborer is paid on a salary basis and earns well above $684 per week or $35,568 per year, they remain entitled to overtime pay. The salary and duties tests simply do not cover work that involves repetitive manual tasks or physical labor.
management production line workers and employees who perform work involving repetitive operations with their hands, physical skill, and energy cannot be exempt under this section.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
You can pay biweekly or monthly, but the floor is set on a weekly basis
The federal overtime salary threshold is expressed as a weekly amount, but employers do not have to pay employees every week. The rule allows the weekly floor to be translated into equivalent amounts for longer pay periods, such as biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly. For example, the $684-per-week requirement is satisfied if an employee is paid at least $1,368 on a biweekly salary basis, $1,482 on a semimonthly basis, or $2,964 on a monthly basis. However, the shortest period of payment that can satisfy the compensation requirement is one week; employers cannot use a shorter period to meet the test. This flexibility means employers can maintain their existing payroll cycles while still complying with the federal standard salary level, as long as the equivalent amount for the chosen pay period meets or exceeds the weekly threshold multiplied by the number of weeks in that period.
(b) The required amount of compensation per week may be translated into equivalent amounts for periods longer than one week. For example, 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. However, the shortest period of payment that will meet this compensation requirement is one week.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
Paying more than the guaranteed minimum never threatens the exemption
Under federal regulations governing the overtime salary threshold, employers are free to pay exempt employees more than the guaranteed minimum without jeopardizing the exemption. Section 541.604 makes clear that an employer may provide additional compensation - such as commissions, bonuses, or hourly pay for extra work - on top of the required weekly salary of $684, and the employee remains exempt. The key condition is that the employer must still guarantee at least the full minimum weekly amount, paid on a salary basis, regardless of how much extra the employee earns. An employee guaranteed at least the weekly standard on a salary basis may also receive a percentage-based commission on sales or a flat-sum bonus without the extra pay threatening exempt status. The same principle applies when earnings are calculated hourly, daily, or by shift: as long as the salary guarantee meets the weekly standard, additional compensation in any form is permitted. This flexibility means employers can reward performance or offer variable pay without having to reclassify the employee as nonexempt under federal law.
An employer may provide an exempt employee with additional compensation without losing the exemption or violating the salary basis requirement, if the employment arrangement also includes a guarantee of at least the minimum weekly-required amount paid on a salary basis.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
Some professionals qualify without meeting the salary threshold at all
Under federal law, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and outside sales employees are exempt from the overtime salary requirements entirely. This means they do not need to meet the standard salary level of $684 per week ($35,568 annually) to qualify for the white collar exemption. These professionals must still satisfy the duties tests for their respective categories, but their exemption status does not depend on earning the minimum salary threshold. The Department of Labor's regulations explicitly exclude these occupations from salary tests because they are recognized as learned professionals whose qualifications and responsibilities distinguish them from other exempt employees. For the highly compensated employee test, the total annual compensation threshold is $107,432 in 2022, but teachers, doctors, lawyers, and outside sales workers are not subject to any salary or compensation floor at all under the standard exemption framework.
Some employees, such as business owners, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and outside sales employees, are not subject to salary tests.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees (84 FR 51230, September 27, 2019) (DOL)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
- Standard salary level per week
Standard Salary Level $684 per week (equivalent to a $35,568 annual salary)
- Standard salary level, annual equivalent
Standard Salary Level $684 per week (equivalent to a $35,568 annual salary)
- Highly compensated employee total annual compensation
Total Annual Compensation Requirement for Highly Compensated Employees $107,432 per year, including at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis
- Compensation required for computer employees, hourly basis
Compensation Required for Computer Employees Paid on an Hourly Basis $27.63 per hour
- Special salary level per week, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the CNMI
Special Salary Level for Employees in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands $455 per week (equivalent to a $23,660 annual salary)
- Special salary level per week, American Samoa
Special Salary Level for Employees in American Samoa $380 per week (equivalent to a $19,760 annual salary)
- Special base rate per week, motion picture industry
Special Base Rate for Employees in the Motion Picture Industry $1,043 per week (or a proportionate amount based on the number of days worked)