U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the final regulations governing overtime eligibility for “white-collar” workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Today, workers win. The department’s new rules guarantee and strengthen overtime rights for more American workers than ever before,” said Secretary Chao.

“When workers know their rights and employers know how to pay workers, everybody wins,” added Chao. “With the ‘FairPay’ rule, we are restoring overtime to what it was intended to be: fair pay for workers, instead of a lawsuit lottery. And we will use these new clear standards to vigorously enforce the overtime laws on behalf of workers—building on this Administration’s strong record of pro-worker wage and hour enforcement.”

The new rules expand the number of workers eligible for overtime by nearly tripling the salary threshold. Under the 50-year-old regulations, only workers earning less than $8,060 annually were guaranteed overtime. Under the new rules, workers earning $23,660 or less are guaranteed overtime. This strengthens overtime protection for 6.7 million low-wage salaried workers, including 1.3 million salaried white collar workers who were not entitled to overtime pay under the existing regulations. These workers will gain up to $375 million in additional earnings every year.

The department’s new FairPay rule will take effect in 120 days.

Download FairPay Presentation (Microsoft® PowerPoint®; 1,363 KB)

Overview - By Exemption
-Overview for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer, & Outside Sales Employees

-Executive Employees

-Administrative Employees

-Professional Employees

-Employees in Computer-Related Occupations

-Outside Sales Employees

-Salary Basis Requirement and the Part-541 Exemptions

-Highly-Compensated Workers and the Part-541 Exemptions