2025 Overtime Salary Threshold
For 2025, 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 2025-01-01Source: 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 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | 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 with workers classified as exempt executive, administrative, or professional employees under the FLSA, and employers with highly compensated employees.
What changed this year, and why
The Department of Labor sets the minimum salary thresholds that executive, administrative, and professional employees must earn to be exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and minimum wage protections. For 2025, the standard salary level is $684 per week ($35,568 annual equivalent). The total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees is $107,432, which must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Common questions
- What is the minimum salary an exempt employee must earn in 2025?
- Employers must pay exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees at least $684 per week ($35,568 annually). Highly compensated employees must receive at least $107,432 in total annual compensation, which must include at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.
- Do these salary thresholds apply to all employees?
- No. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, and outside sales employees are not subject to these salary thresholds.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Overtime salary threshold headroom takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
The 2024 rule, and the level the Department applies
A final rule the Department published in April 2024 would have raised the standard salary level twice, once from July 2024 and again from January 1, 2025, and would then have updated the thresholds automatically. Neither increase survived. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule on November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas vacated it again on December 30, 2024, the appeals from both judgments were dismissed, and the Department removed the vacated text from the Code of Federal Regulations. The operative part 541 regulations are the ones that were in place on June 30, 2024, which is why the standard salary level for 2025 is $684 per week, or $35,568 a year, and why a highly compensated employee's total annual compensation requirement is still $107,432.
In light of these judgments, 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.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
Being paid a salary means a predetermined amount that does not vary
Under federal overtime rules, being paid a salary means receiving a predetermined and fixed amount that makes up all or part of an employee's pay. That amount cannot be reduced because the quality or quantity of work varies from week to week. The salary basis test applies to most workers seeking the executive, administrative, or professional exemption from overtime, though it does not apply to doctors, lawyers, teachers, and outside sales employees. Meeting the salary basis test is one of three requirements for the exemption, alongside the duties test and the salary level test. For 2025, the standard salary level is $684 per week ($35,568 annually), and an employee paid below that amount on a salary basis is generally entitled to overtime.
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); and (3) the amount of salary paid must meet a minimum specified amount (the salary level test).
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
The salary is only half of it: the duties test
Even if an employee earns the required salary, the exemption still depends on what they actually do at work. The duties test asks whether the employee's primary duty is executive, administrative, or professional work as defined by the regulations. "Primary duty" means the principal, main, major, or most important duty the employee performs. It is a factual inquiry that looks at the totality of the circumstances, including how much time is spent on exempt versus non-exempt work, but time alone is not the sole test. An employer cannot avoid overtime simply by giving a salaried worker an executive title if their real day-to-day work is not primarily executive, administrative, or professional in nature.
(1) 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; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
The shorter test for highly compensated employees
The regulations establish a separate pathway for employees earning well above the standard salary threshold. This alternative test pairs a reduced job duties requirement with an annual earnings threshold substantially higher than the standard salary level requirement. For 2025, the total annual compensation threshold is $107,432. An employee who meets that earnings test and regularly performs exempt duties qualifies for the exemption even if their primary duty is not exclusively executive, administrative, or professional work. The higher earnings threshold substitutes for the stricter duties review that applies to workers earning below $35,568 annually. Employers often use this pathway for senior staff whose compensation is well above the standard salary level but whose day-to-day duties are mixed.
pairing a reduced job duties requirement with an annual earnings threshold substantially higher than the standard salary level requirement.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
When a bonus can count toward the salary level
The salary level test is about salary, but not entirely. The regulation lets part of the required amount be satisfied by nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions, provided they are paid annually or more frequently. Only part: the share that may be met this way is capped and the remainder must still be paid as salary, so an employer cannot pay a thin weekly salary and make it up with a large year-end bonus. Two conditions do the work. The payments must be nondiscretionary, which rules out a bonus the employer decides on after the fact and the employee could not count on. And they are measured against the standard salary level of $684 a week, or $35,568 a year - where a year's payments leave the employee short of it, the employer has one further pay period in which to make up the difference, and without that payment the exemption fails for the whole year.
(3) Up to ten percent of the salary amount required by Sec. 541.600(a) may be satisfied by the payment of nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions, that are paid annually or more frequently.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
Workers the exemption never reaches, whatever they are paid
The FLSA overtime exemption for executive, administrative, and professional employees does not apply to certain categories of workers regardless of their salary or job title. The exemption is fundamentally limited to those employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity. This means that workers performing manual labor, routine physical work, or other blue-collar occupations are never covered by the white-collar exemption, no matter how highly they are paid or what their job title might be. The salary level test and duties test both must be satisfied, but even if an employer pays a worker well above the threshold, the exemption still does not apply if the worker's primary duties involve manual or routine physical labor rather than executive, administrative, or professional work as defined by the regulations.
These FLSA exemptions are commonly known as the ``white collar'' or ``EAP'' exemptions.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
You can pay biweekly or monthly, but the floor is set on a weekly basis
Under the 2025 overtime salary threshold set by the Department of Labor, the standard salary level is measured on a weekly basis. The minimum is $684 per week, which is equivalent to $35,568 annually for a full-year worker. Employers may pay exempt employees on a biweekly, semimonthly, monthly, or annual schedule, but the weekly amount is the shortest period that counts toward meeting the threshold. If an employer pays on a longer cycle, the salary must be prorated so that the employee receives at least $684 in every workweek. This ensures that the salary level test is applied consistently regardless of payroll frequency.
the salary level from $455 per week to $684 per week (equivalent to $35,568 per year for a full-year worker).
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
Paying more than the guaranteed minimum never threatens the exemption
Under the 2025 overtime salary threshold rules published by the Department of Labor, an employer may provide an exempt employee with extra pay on top of the guaranteed weekly salary without jeopardizing the exemption. An employer may provide an exempt employee with additional compensation without losing the exemption or violating the salary basis requirement, provided the employment arrangement also guarantees at least the minimum weekly-required amount of $684 paid on a salary basis. The extra compensation may take any form, including commissions, a percentage of sales or profits, a bonus, a flat-sum payment, straight-time or time-and-one-half for hours beyond the normal workweek, or even additional paid time off. As long as the guaranteed salary floor is met each week, the additional earnings do not affect exempt status.
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; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
Some professionals qualify without meeting the salary threshold at all
Pay is beside the point for a few professions. The compensation requirements are switched off entirely for three groups: anyone employed as a teacher, anyone holding a valid license to practice law or medicine who is genuinely working in that field, and a medical graduate serving an internship or residency. For them the $684 weekly floor never has to be cleared, so a first-year resident, or a teacher paid well under $35,568 a year, can still be an exempt professional. What does not go away is the duties side of the test. The exemption still turns on the person actually doing the professional work the rule describes: a qualified lawyer working behind a reception desk is not practicing law, and a medical degree on its own, without the internship or residency, does not get anyone to § 541.304. The teacher branch is set out separately, in § 541.303, and works the same way. For every other professional employee the salary test is still live.
(e) In the case of professional employees, the compensation requirements in this section shall not apply to employees engaged as teachers (see Sec. 541.303); employees who hold a valid license or certificate permitting the practice of law or medicine or any of their branches and are actually engaged in the practice thereof (see Sec. 541.304); or to employees who hold the requisite academic degree for the general practice of medicine and are engaged in an internship or resident program pursuant to the practice of the profession (see Sec. 541.304).
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (DOL)
Miss the year-end catch-up payment and the employee is no longer a highly compensated employee
For the 2025 overtime salary threshold, the Department of Labor's highly compensated employee (HCE) test requires total annual compensation of at least $107,432. If an employee's total annual compensation falls short by the end of the last pay period of the 52-week year, the employer has one additional month after the end of the year to make a catch-up payment to bring the employee up to the threshold. Any such catch-up payment counts only toward the prior year's total and not toward the year in which it is paid. If the employer fails to make that catch-up payment, the employee does not qualify as a highly compensated employee, though the employee may still qualify for the standard executive, administrative, or professional exemption under the regular salary tests.
Any such final payment made after the end of the 52-week period may count only toward the prior year's total annual compensation and not toward the total annual compensation in the year it was paid. If the employer fails to make such a payment, the employee does not qualify as a highly compensated employee, but may still qualify as exempt under subparts B, C, or D of this part.
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees; Implementation of Federal Court Judgments (91 FR 27833, May 15, 2026) (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)