A salary of $684 a week clears one federal threshold used for several white-collar overtime exemptions, but it does not settle the question. Most executive, administrative and professional exemptions require the employer to satisfy a salary-level test, a salary-basis test and a duties test. A job title or a fixed paycheck cannot replace the missing elements.
The current federal threshold returned to $684
On May 14, the Department of Labor published a technical amendment restoring the operative 2019 regulations after a court vacated the 2024 rule. The department’s announcement sets the standard salary level at $684 per week, or $35,568 for a full-year worker. It also lists $107,432 as the total annual compensation threshold used for certain highly compensated employees.
Those numbers are minimum components of an exemption, not a declaration that everyone above them loses overtime. The amendment took effect upon publication and restored the text the Wage and Hour Division says it currently enforces. State law can be more protective, so a worker may have overtime rights under a higher state threshold even when the federal salary level is met.
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Salary basis asks how the paycheck is protected
An exempt employee usually must receive a predetermined amount each pay period that is not reduced because the quality or quantity of work changes. Improper deductions for a slow day, a partial-day absence or a shortfall in work can undermine the salary-basis requirement. Being paid every two weeks does not by itself show that the amount is a legally protected salary.
Some deductions are permitted, and bonuses can satisfy a limited portion of the standard salary level under current rules. The actual payroll records and employer policy matter. Workers comparing pay stubs should look for reductions tied to hours or output and preserve written explanations rather than relying only on the word “salary” printed next to the rate.
The duties test looks past the title
DOL’s Fact Sheet 17A says job titles do not determine exempt status. An executive exemption generally requires management as the primary duty, regular direction of at least two full-time employees or their equivalent, and meaningful input into hiring, firing or other status decisions. A “manager” who spends nearly all working time on the same routine tasks as hourly staff may not satisfy that description.
The administrative exemption generally concerns office or nonmanual work related to management or business operations and requires discretion and independent judgment on significant matters. The learned-professional exemption generally requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning acquired through prolonged specialized instruction. Merely performing skilled or important work is not enough.
Some occupations follow special rules
Teachers, doctors, lawyers and outside sales employees are among occupations for which the standard salary threshold may not apply in the ordinary way. Certain computer employees may qualify under either the salary test or an hourly rate test. Conversely, blue-collar workers and many first responders do not become exempt under the executive, administrative or professional rules merely because their pay exceeds $684.
The Department’s current salary-level table also lists special amounts for several U.S. territories and the motion-picture industry. That variation is another reason a single national number should not be applied without checking the worker’s location and occupation.
A classification error can change years of pay
A nonexempt worker generally earns at least one and one-half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek. If a salaried employee works 45 or 50 hours regularly, an incorrect exemption can create a substantial wage difference. The regular rate may also include some bonuses or other compensation, so dividing salary by 40 is not always the complete overtime calculation.
Workers should keep their own record of start times, end times, meal periods and work performed outside scheduled hours. A written job description is useful, but evidence of actual day-to-day duties is more important. DOL’s Wage and Hour Division accepts questions and complaints, and state labor agencies may enforce rules that go beyond the federal floor.
The three-part test is the practical checkpoint
The restored regulation makes $684 a current and important figure. It still addresses only the salary-level component for most executive, administrative and professional employees. Salary basis and actual duties must line up as well, and specific occupational exceptions can change the analysis.
A worker earning exactly $684 a week should therefore ask three separate questions: Is the pay guaranteed on a salary basis? Do the real duties fit a defined exemption? Does state law impose a higher standard? The Labor Department’s May amendment supports the threshold, while its fact sheet confirms why the threshold alone never finishes the exemption test.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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