The minimum salary level for an employee to qualify as exempt from FLSA overtime — currently $1,128/week in 2026.
The Salary Threshold (also called the salary basis level) is the minimum weekly salary an employee must earn to qualify as exempt from FLSA overtime under the executive, administrative, professional, or computer-employee exemptions. As of January 1, 2026, the threshold is $1,128 per week ($58,656 annualized) following the DOL's 2024 final rule (with subsequent litigation outcomes).
The salary threshold is necessary but not sufficient: employees must also meet the relevant duties test for the specific exemption. An employee earning above the threshold but performing primarily non-exempt work (data entry, manual labor, routine clerical tasks without independent judgment) is misclassified.
Certain classifications have different rules: highly compensated employees ($151,164/year minimum in 2025) need to perform only one exempt duty regularly; outside-sales employees have no salary threshold; and computer professionals can be paid at $27.63/hour or above. Some states (CA, NY, WA, ME, AK) have higher state-level salary thresholds. Audit classifications annually and after any change in the federal or state thresholds.
We audited every salaried role against the 2026 $1,128/week salary threshold and reclassified four borderline positions to non-exempt.
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