Compliance
The FLSA Salary Threshold Is the Floor, Not the Answer
The FLSA salary threshold tells you whether an employee clears the minimum pay floor for exemption. It does not tell you whether that employee is actually exempt. Employers who update the salary number in payroll without re-running the duties test create liability every time the DOL moves the line. The threshold is one leg of a three-part test, and the other two legs, salary basis and job duties, are where most misclassification exposure actually lives.
What You Need to Know
The salary threshold is an entry condition
Meeting the minimum salary level is necessary but not sufficient for exemption. The duties test and salary-basis test must also be satisfied independently.
The threshold has moved more recently than ever
After holding at $455/week from 2004 to 2019, the DOL updated the floor to $684/week in 2019 and proposed further increases in 2024, with portions blocked by litigation. Expect continued movement.