2022 Overtime Salary Threshold
For 2022, the Overtime Salary Threshold is $684 (Standard salary level per week), $35,568 (Standard salary level, annual equivalent) and $107,432 (Highly compensated employee total annual compensation).
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Earnings thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional exemption from minimum wage and overtime protections under the FLSA (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
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%) |
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)
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