To be exempt from overtime, you must earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) AND pass a duties test. Your actual job duties matter more than your title or pay structure. If you don't meet both requirements, you're owed overtime.
Who do I represent?
- Salaried employees working over 40 hours per week
- Assistant managers and supervisors misclassified as exempt
- Administrative staff told they're salaried and exempt
- Sales staff paid salaries without actual sales authority
- Employees whose salary has fallen below the threshold
- Anyone whose employer deducts pay for partial-day absences
- Employees doing significant non-exempt work despite their title
What are the most common misclassification patterns?
Being salaried doesn't mean exempt. Your employer pays you a salary and says overtime doesn't apply. But just because you're salaried does not make you exempt. You also have to pass a duties test. If you spend significant time doing non-exempt work, you are owed overtime.
The salary threshold isn't met. You're paid $30,000 a year as a salaried "supervisor." That's about $577 per week. The law requires at least $684 per week to qualify for any white-collar exemption. Your employer can't avoid that with a title. You're owed overtime.
Half-day deductions blow the exemption. You're salaried and called "exempt." But your employer deducts pay if you take a half day for a doctor's appointment, or if you arrive late because of traffic, or if you leave early for any reason. That's illegal. Making deductions for partial-day absences destroys the exemption. You become a non-exempt employee owed overtime.
You're not actually performing exempt duties. You're titled "assistant manager" but you're not doing exempt work. You're ringing up sales, handling customer service, stocking shelves, and cleaning. You're supervising almost no one. That's not exempt. You're doing non-exempt work and you're owed overtime.
Executive exemption misapplied. To be an executive exempt, you must primarily manage an enterprise or department, supervise two or more employees, and have real authority over hiring and firing. If you're titled "manager" but have no hiring power, can't fire anyone, and spend most of your time doing regular work, you're not exempt. You're owed overtime.
How does the law protect you?
Federal law has three main white-collar exemptions from overtime: executive, administrative, and professional. The employer bears the burden of proving that an exemption applies to a particular worker. Courts give the exemption regulations a fair reading and require the employer to satisfy every element of the test.
For any white-collar exemption to apply, you must earn at least $684 per week (as of 2026) AND meet the specific duties test for that exemption. There's no rounding and no negotiation. The employer has to satisfy every prong.
Executive exemption: The employer has to show that you primarily manage the enterprise or a department, supervise at least two employees, and have real authority over hiring, firing, or advancement. Titles don't matter. Your actual duties do.
Administrative exemption: The employer has to show that you perform non-manual work directly related to management or business operations, and exercise independent judgment on matters of significance. Clerical work and routine tasks don't qualify.
Professional exemption: The employer has to show that you perform work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of learning (law, medicine, accounting, engineering, teaching, etc.) or that you are a creative professional. You must have earned a degree or have equivalent experience, and exercise independent judgment.
If your duties don't fit one of these categories, the employer cannot meet its burden and you're owed overtime.
And if your employer deducts pay for partial-day absences (except for FMLA or unpaid leave), the salary basis is destroyed. You're a non-exempt employee owed overtime for all hours worked over 40 per week.
What could your case be worth?
Salaried exempt misclassification cases can involve years of overtime violations.
Example: You were paid $50,000 per year ($961 per week) as a salaried "supervisor," working 50 hours per week for four years, but doing mostly non-exempt work with little actual supervision. Your unpaid overtime comes to roughly $25,000 over four years. Add liquidated damages (another 100 percent) and attorney's fees, and your case could be worth $50,000 to $75,000 or more.
Cases with longer histories, higher salaries, or bigger hours gaps scale up significantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a salaried employee receive overtime pay?
Yes. Being paid a salary does not by itself make you exempt from overtime. To be exempt under federal law, you must meet both the salary basis test and the duties test. If you fail either one, you are non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay for every hour worked over 40 in a workweek, regardless of how you are paid. Most salaried workers I see who think they are exempt are actually misclassified because they do not meet the duties test.
What is the federal salary threshold for exempt employees?
As of 2026, the federal salary threshold for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions is $684 per week, which works out to $35,568 per year. If you earn less than that on a weekly basis, you cannot be exempt under those white-collar exemptions, regardless of your title or duties. Some states have a higher threshold. The federal $684 figure is the floor, not the ceiling. Meeting the salary threshold is necessary, but not sufficient. You still have to pass the duties test.
Does my job title decide whether I am exempt from overtime?
No. Your title is not what controls. The federal overtime exemptions turn on what you actually do, not on what your employer calls you. Federal regulations describe specific duties tests for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions. A worker called a "manager" who spends most of their time doing the same work as the non-managers, with no real hiring or firing authority, is not exempt under the executive exemption. A worker called an "administrator" who follows procedures without exercising real discretion on matters of significance is not exempt under the administrative exemption. Duties control. Titles do not.
What happens if my employer deducts my salary for a partial-day absence?
Deductions from a salaried employee's pay for partial-day absences can defeat the white-collar exemption. Under the regulations, the salary basis test asks whether the employer pays the employee a predetermined amount that is not subject to reduction based on the quantity or quality of work. Deductions for partial-day absences, with limited exceptions for FMLA leave and certain other categories, can demonstrate that the employer is not actually paying on a salary basis. When the salary basis fails, the exemption fails, and the worker is non-exempt and entitled to overtime pay for the workweeks affected. The analysis depends on how widespread the deduction practice is, whether the employer has a written policy permitting only proper deductions, and whether the employer reimburses any improper deductions. This is one of the most common ways employers undermine their own exemption defense.
How far back can I recover unpaid overtime as a misclassified salaried worker?
The statute of limitations is two years from the date you file your case, or three years if the violation was willful. Willfulness means the employer knew the classification violated the overtime law or showed reckless disregard for whether it did. That is a fact-specific question decided case by case. Each workweek of unpaid overtime is its own violation. If you have been misclassified as exempt for several years, the case can cover a substantial period. Liquidated damages are the default under the overtime law and equal the amount of unpaid overtime, although the employer can sometimes avoid them by proving it acted in good faith.
What does it cost to bring a case?
I work on a contingency fee basis. You don't pay upfront. If there is no recovery, you pay nothing, not even the costs.
For a broader overview of how federal law addresses unpaid wages, see Unpaid Wages.
Contact Me
If you're salaried but working over 40 hours a week without overtime, had pay deducted for partial days, or are doing significant non-exempt work despite your title, call me. I'll ask about your duties, your actual hours, and what you earn. Then I'll tell you whether you have a case.
Call me at (512) 799-2048.