Employment Law
A Salary Is Not An Overtime Waiver
Many employers put workers on a salary and assume that ends their overtime obligations. It does not. Your job title and how you are paid do not decide whether you are exempt. What actually controls is the work you do every day. If you were wrongly labeled exempt, you may be owed significant back overtime.
Employment Law
Salaried does not mean exempt.
What you do is what counts.
Misclassification happens in two main ways: workers labeled “exempt” from overtime when their real duties say otherwise, and workers treated as independent contractors when the law says they are employees. This page covers both — for a deep dive on salaried-worker rights, see Misclassified as Exempt, and for contractor issues, see Independent Contractors.
To be exempt from overtime, an employee generally must be paid at least $684 per week and perform specific exempt duties. An executive exemption requires regularly supervising two or more full-time employees, and occasional supervision is not enough. An administrative exemption requires independent decision-making authority on matters of significance. Loan officers, mortgage underwriters, recruiters, and office staff are frequently misclassified even when they clearly do not meet these tests.
How exemptions really work.
Duties Test
Your actual day-to-day job duties, not your title, determine whether you are legally exempt.
Salary Threshold
Exempt employees must generally be paid at least $684 per week on a salary basis.
Executive Exemption
Qualifying requires regularly supervising two or more full-time employees, not occasional oversight.
Commonly Misclassified
Loan officers, underwriters, recruiters, and office workers are often wrongly treated as exempt.
$0
Minimum weekly salary for exemption
0
Hours per week before overtime applies
0
Employees supervised for executive exemption
No. Neither your title nor your salary status controls exemption. Your actual primary job duties determine eligibility.
An exempt employee must generally earn at least $684 per week and also meet a duties test.
Not necessarily. The executive exemption requires regularly supervising two or more full-time employees, and sporadic supervision does not qualify.
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