Exempt employee

Salaried staff not entitled to FLSA overtime.

Definition

An exempt employee is a salaried worker who meets the FLSA tests for executive, administrative, professional, computer-employee, or outside-sales exemption — and is therefore not entitled to overtime pay. The exemption requires both a minimum salary threshold (federally $844 per week / $43,888 per year as of mid-2024, with scheduled increases) and a duties test demonstrating the employee performs primarily exempt duties. Job title alone does not determine exemption; the actual duties and salary must qualify. Misclassification of non-exempt workers as exempt to avoid overtime is a frequent enforcement target.

Example

A salaried marketing manager earning $90,000 who supervises a team is typically exempt.

Related terms

• Pay period — The recurring window of time covered by a single paycheck.
• Pay frequency — How often paychecks are issued.
• Payday — The calendar day wages are deposited.
• In arrears — Wages paid after the pay period ends.
• Biweekly — Every other week — 26 paychecks per year.
• Semimonthly — Twice per month on fixed dates — 24 paychecks per year.

See also

• Pay schedule calculator — convert salary to per-paycheck amount
• Pay frequencies primer — weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, monthly
• Frequently asked questions