Overtime and Hours
Federal law requires time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek unless you fall within an exemption, and exemption requires all three of a salary basis, a salary at or above $684 a week, and duties that genuinely match one of the defined categories. The 2024 rule that would have raised that threshold to $1,128 was vacated by the courts and formally rescinded in May 2026, so $684 is the operative figure. A job title has never been part of the test.
Overtime is where the largest amount of unpaid money in American employment sits, and almost all of it comes from two mistakes: assuming a salary removes the right, and assuming the hours that count are only the ones on the schedule.
The federal rule in one sentence
One and a half times your regular rate for every hour over 40 in a single workweek. Not over 80 in a fortnight, not averaged across a month — the workweek is a fixed, recurring 168 hours and each one stands alone.
Exemption is three tests, not one
Paid on a salary basis, at or above the threshold, doing duties that fit an executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales role as those are actually defined. Fail any one and the exemption fails. Employers most often fail the third while relying on the first two, because a title is easy to assign and duties are not.
The threshold moved and then moved back
A 2024 rule raised it to $844 and scheduled $1,128 for January 2025, with automatic updates every three years. Courts in Texas vacated it, the appeal was dropped, and the Department of Labor formally rescinded the rule in May 2026 — restoring the 2019 levels and removing the automatic update. Anything written between April 2024 and May 2026 may quote a figure that never became enforceable.
States go further, in two directions
Higher salary thresholds in several states, and daily overtime in a handful — California pays time-and-a-half after eight hours in a day regardless of the weekly total. Where state law is more generous it governs.
The hours question is separate and larger
On-call time, travel, training, pre-shift setup and answering messages after hours all have rules, and unpaid minutes accumulate into serious amounts over a year. Which hours count is a different question from what rate applies to them, and it is usually the more valuable one.
Articles in this section
- Exempt or Non-Exempt: How the Test Actually Works 1 min read
- The Salary Threshold for Overtime Exemption 1 min read
- Calculating Overtime Pay Correctly 1 min read
- Salaried and Still Owed Overtime: When That Happens 1 min read
- Daily and Weekly Overtime Rules by State 1 min read
- On-Call, Travel and Training: Which Hours Count 1 min read
- Comp Time Instead of Overtime: Who Can Offer It 1 min read
- Meal and Rest Breaks: Paid, Unpaid and Required 1 min read
- Working Time Limits Outside the US 1 min read
- Off-the-Clock Work and How It Adds Up 1 min read
Common questions
When is overtime owed?
For hours over 40 in a single workweek, at one and a half times your regular rate, unless a genuine exemption applies. Each workweek stands alone.
What is the salary threshold now?
$684 a week, or $35,568 a year. The 2024 rule raising it was vacated and formally rescinded in May 2026.
Does being salaried mean no overtime?
No. Salary is only one of three tests. If your duties do not match a defined exemption, you are owed overtime however you are paid.
Does my job title matter?
Not at all. Exemption turns on actual duties, and the burden of establishing it sits with the employer.
Do any states require daily overtime?
Yes. California and a few others require time-and-a-half after eight hours in a day regardless of the weekly total.
Which hours have to be paid?
All hours you are suffered or permitted to work, which includes much on-call, travel, training and pre- and post-shift work that goes unrecorded.
Pay Equity
Overtime governs what one job pays. Pay equity governs what two comparable jobs pay each other.
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