Department of Labor (DOL)

Rescind and revise the following: 29 CFR §541.100–.600 — These sections define the so-called “white-collar exemptions” for executive, administrative, and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including outdated salary thresholds and vague “duties tests.” 29 CFR §541.601 — Highly compensated employee (HCE) rule that exempts individuals earning above a set salary from overtime protections, regardless of their actual job duties. 29 CFR §541.2 — Interpretation of the “salary basis” test, which permits broad misclassification of workers as exempt even when they perform primarily nonexempt duties

White-Collar Exemptions and Highly Compensated Worker Rule

Millions of salaried workers are being denied overtime pay because of outdated exemptions and low salary thresholds. Employers routinely misclassify frontline supervisors, coordinators, and administrative staff as “exempt,” forcing them to work long hours with no additional pay. These rules legalize exploitation by redefining low-wage workers as management.

U.S. Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW Washington, D.C. 20210

Wage and Hour Division Phone: 1-866-487-9243 Email: WHDComments@dol.gov

The FLSA requires time-and-a-half pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week, but the “white-collar” exemption lets employers avoid this by classifying workers as executive, administrative, or professional staff—if they meet both a duties test and a salary threshold. That threshold has been raised only sporadically and remains far below modern cost-of-living standards. The HCE exemption adds further abuse potential by exempting even some clerical or manual workers based on salary alone.

The salary threshold is so low—and the job descriptions so vague—that millions of workers earning modest incomes are excluded from overtime protections. Raising the salary cutoff and tightening the duties tests would ensure that only genuinely exempt employees (e.g., actual executives and credentialed professionals) are excluded. Everyone else should be paid for every hour worked.

Revised provisions shall: Raise the federal salary threshold for exempt status to reflect at least the 55th percentile of weekly earnings for full-time salaried workers nationwide, with automatic annual indexing. Narrow the duties test to require that exempt workers spend the majority of their time performing core exempt functions—not just supervising or occasionally assisting. Eliminate the HCE exemption or raise the HCE threshold to a level that reflects true executive-level compensation and duties.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer

Secretary of Labor