Payroll & contractors
FLSA Exempt Salary Threshold Checker
Check a salary against the current $684/week exemption floor. The 2024 rule that raised it to $844 and $1,128 was vacated — many calculators still quote it.
| Salary floor$684.00/week | $35,568 |
|---|---|
| This salary$807.69/week | $42,000 |
| Highly compensated employeetotal annual compensation | $107,432 |
| Salary basis test | Met |
Salary is necessary but not sufficient. Exemption needs all three: paid on a salary basis, at or above the floor, and duties that genuinely fit an executive, administrative or professional role. The duties test is where most misclassification happens — a job title proves nothing. Where a state sets a higher floor, the state figure governs.
Details people get wrong
- Isn’t the threshold $1,128 now?
- No, and this is the most common error in circulation. The 2024 rule raised it to $844 from July 2024 and was to reach $1,128 in January 2025, but a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas vacated it in November 2024. In May 2026 the DOL formally restored the 2019 regulation. The operative figure is $684 per week. Anything quoting $844 or $1,128 is citing a rule that no longer exists.
- Does meeting the salary make someone exempt?
- No — salary is necessary but not sufficient. Exemption requires all three: payment on a salary basis, a salary at or above the floor, and job duties that genuinely fit an executive, administrative or professional role. The duties test is where most misclassification happens; a job title proves nothing.
- What is the highly compensated employee test?
- An employee earning $107,432 or more in total annual compensation, including at least $684 per week paid on a salary basis, faces a relaxed duties test — they need only customarily perform one exempt duty rather than satisfy the full standard.
- Do state thresholds override this?
- Where a state sets a higher floor, the state figure governs. Several states are meaningfully above the federal level, so passing the federal test does not settle the question. This calculator checks the federal floor only.