When the FLSA Considers You Exempt

What “exempt” actually requires

Under federal law, most white-collar exemptions need three things: pay on a salary basis, pay that clears the threshold ($684/week for most categories — still the floor after the 2024 raise was vacated and rescinded), and a primary duty that matches a Part 541 category (executive, administrative, professional, computer, outside sales, or highly compensated). Computer roles may use $27.63/hour instead of the weekly salary. Outside sales has no federal minimum salary, but the “away from the office” sales duty still has to be real. Highly compensated employees need $107,432 total annual compensation plus at least one exempt duty — high pay alone is not enough.

How to screen a role before you skip overtime

• Confirm the pay structure is a true salary (or the computer hourly / outside-sales path) — daily rates can fail even at high total pay.
• Confirm the dollar floor for the category you are using ($684/week, $27.63/hour, or $107,432 HCE).
• Walk the actual duties, not the job title — manage 2+ and hire/fire weight for executive; independent judgment on significant matters for administrative; real professional or computer work, not labels.
• If any prong fails or is unclear: treat as non-exempt, track hours, pay overtime.
• Some states set higher salary floors than federal law (research notes California, Washington, and Colorado among them) — the work state can raise the bar.

Where exemption claims break

• The “coordinator” or “assistant manager” paid a salary who follows fixed procedures and supervises no one — fails the duties test.
• The high earner on a daily rate — can still be non-exempt after Helix Energy (2023).
• The inside salesperson labeled “outside sales” who works from the company office.
• The IT help-desk role labeled “computer exempt” without systems analysis, programming, or software engineering as the primary duty.
• Stopping time records because “they’re salaried” — if classification was wrong, missing records help the employee’s claim.

When in doubt, track the hours

Exempt is a legal status the employer has to prove — not a payroll setting. If you would struggle to explain the salary basis, the dollar floor, and the real duties to a DOL investigator, pay overtime until you can. For the full category table, vacatur history, and screening checklist, see the FLSA exemption tests deep dive.