Do Salaried Employees Get Overtime?
Built & reviewed by Nandu Kannan · Overtime rules cited to primary statutes
"You're salaried, so no overtime" is one of the most repeated — and most wrong — statements in American workplaces. The Fair Labor Standards Act doesn't divide workers into salaried and hourly. It divides them into exempt and non-exempt, and a salary is only one of three requirements for exemption. Millions of salaried employees are legally owed time-and-a-half after 40 hours and don't know it. Here's how the tests actually work.
The three-part exemption test
To be exempt from overtime under the FLSA's "white collar" exemptions (29 U.S.C. §213(a)(1), implemented in 29 CFR Part 541), an employee must pass all three of these tests:
- Salary basis test — you receive a fixed salary that doesn't go down based on the quality or quantity of your work. If pay is docked for a short day or a slow week, the salary basis (and the exemption) can be destroyed.
- Salary level test — the salary meets the DOL minimum. The most recent DOL rule set the standard level at $1,128/week ($58,656/year) effective January 1, 2025. Important caveat: that rule has been challenged in federal court and the enforceable threshold has moved before (the prior 2019 rule set $684/week, $35,568/year). Don't rely on any single figure — check the current number at dol.gov.
- Duties test — your primary duty is genuinely executive, administrative, or professional work, as defined below. Titles and job descriptions are irrelevant; actual day-to-day work controls.
Fail any one test and you are non-exempt: your employer must track your hours and pay 1.5× your regular rate after 40 per week, exactly as it would for an hourly worker. See how overtime pay works for the rate math.
The duties tests, in plain English
Executive exemption
- Primary duty is managing the business or a recognized department.
- Customarily and regularly directs the work of at least two full-time employees (or equivalents).
- Has authority to hire and fire, or real weight in those decisions.
The classic misclassification: a retail "assistant manager" who mostly works the floor, with management as a side duty. Working supervisors who spend their shift doing the same work as the people they nominally lead often fail this test.
Administrative exemption
- Primary duty is office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations.
- Exercises discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance.
This is the most abused exemption. Following procedures, applying well-known standards, or processing transactions — even skillfully — is not "discretion and independent judgment." Many inside sales reps, dispatchers, bookkeepers, and customer service leads are misclassified under this one.
Professional exemption
- Learned professionals: work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, typically acquired through prolonged specialized instruction — doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, registered nurses (but generally not LPNs or paramedics).
- Creative professionals: work requiring invention, imagination, originality, or talent in an artistic field.
Other exemptions
Outside sales employees (no salary minimum at all) and certain computer employees (who can qualify on a salary or an hourly basis of at least $27.63/hour under the statute) have their own tests. Highly compensated employees face a relaxed duties test at a much higher total-pay level.
What a misclassified salary is worth in overtime
For a salaried non-exempt employee whose salary covers a 40-hour week, the regular rate is the weekly salary ÷ 40. Example: $52,000/year is $1,000/week, a regular rate of $25/hour (check any salary with the salary to hourly calculator). Working 50-hour weeks, that person is owed 10 × $25 × 1.5 = $375 every week — about $19,500 a year in unpaid overtime, before liquidated damages double it. The overtime calculator and time and a half calculator make the per-week math instant, and the paycheck calculator shows the after-tax difference.
Red flags you may be misclassified
- Your salary is below the current DOL threshold but you receive no overtime.
- Your title says "manager" or "coordinator" but most of your time is the same hands-on work as hourly coworkers.
- You "supervise" people only on paper, or fewer than two full-timers.
- Your decisions are scripted by policy — you follow rules rather than set them.
- Pay is docked for partial-day absences (which undermines the salary basis itself).
If several of these fit, start keeping your own time records now — courts credit employee records when the employer kept none. The timesheet calculator or time card calculator takes two minutes a week and produces exactly the evidence a claim needs.
State law can be stricter
States are free to set higher bars for exemption, and several do. California requires an exempt salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, plus a stricter duties standard — many employees who are exempt federally are non-exempt in California, where daily overtime and double time apply on top. New York and Washington also maintain higher salary thresholds. Find your state's overtime rule in overtime laws by state and your state's wage floor at minimum wage by state; when federal and state rules differ, the one that pays you more controls.
Frequently asked questions
Do salaried employees get overtime pay?
Many do. Salaried employees are owed overtime unless they are "exempt," which requires passing all three tests: paid on a salary basis, paid at least the FLSA salary threshold, and primarily performing exempt executive, administrative, or professional duties. Fail any one test and you are non-exempt — entitled to 1.5× pay after 40 hours even though you are salaried.
What is the FLSA salary threshold?
The most recent DOL overtime rule set the standard salary level at $1,128 per week ($58,656 per year) effective January 1, 2025. That rule has been challenged in federal court and its enforceable level has shifted over time (the prior 2019 rule set $684/week, or $35,568/year), so check dol.gov for the threshold currently in effect before relying on a number.
How is overtime calculated for a salaried non-exempt employee?
Most commonly, the weekly salary is divided by 40 to get the regular hourly rate, and hours over 40 are paid at 1.5× that rate. Example: $52,000/year = $1,000/week ÷ 40 = $25/hour regular rate, so a 45-hour week adds 5 × $37.50 = $187.50. A different "fluctuating workweek" method (29 CFR §778.114) can apply when a salary is expressly intended to cover variable hours.
Can my employer just call me a manager to avoid overtime?
No. Job titles are explicitly irrelevant under the FLSA — what matters is what you actually do. An "assistant manager" who spends most of the shift running a register and stocking shelves, supervises no one in practice, and cannot hire or fire is very likely non-exempt regardless of the title.
What can I recover if I was misclassified?
Back overtime for up to 2 years (3 if the violation was willful) plus, in most cases, an equal amount in liquidated damages — effectively double pay — under the FLSA. Claims can be filed for free with the DOL Wage and Hour Division, and many states allow parallel claims with longer look-back periods.
Are there different rules in some states?
Yes. Several states set stricter exemption tests than the FLSA. California is the strongest: the exempt salary minimum is twice the state minimum wage for full-time work (well above the federal threshold), the duties test is stricter, and exempt employees must spend more than half their time on exempt duties. New York and Washington also set higher salary thresholds. The rule most protective of you wins.
General information based on the FLSA (29 U.S.C. §213(a)(1)), 29 CFR Part 541, and DOL guidance, current as of June 2026. The federal salary threshold has been the subject of active litigation and rulemaking — verify the current figure at dol.gov before acting on it. Not legal advice; for your situation, consult the DOL Wage and Hour Division or an employment attorney.