Minimum Salary for Most Overtime-Exempt Employees Is Adjusted for Inflation

Implementation Date: Vacated

Effective July 1, 2027, and every third July 1 thereafter, the minimum standard salary level for executive employees, administrative employees, professional employees and computer employees who are exempt from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was to be adjusted for inflation. It was to be increased to match the 35th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time nonhourly workers in the lowest-wage Census Region based on data from the Current Population Survey, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The minimum total annual compensation for highly compensated employees also was to be adjusted for inflation. It was to be increased to match the 85th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time nonhourly workers in the lowest-wage Census Region.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) was to publish a notice of the inflation-adjusted rates no later than February 1, 2027. The DOL was authorized to temporarily delay the increases if unforeseen economic or other conditions warrant.

+29 CFR § 541.600 and +29 CFR § 541.601, as amended by 89 FR 32842.

On November 15, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule that established these increases. Commerce v. United States DOL, +2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207864 (E.D. Tex Nov. 15, 2024).