The operative federal salary threshold is $684 a week, or $35,568 a year, with a highly compensated employee threshold of $107,432 that must include at least $684 a week on a salary basis. A 2024 rule would have raised these to $1,128 a week and $151,164; it was vacated by federal courts in Texas in late 2024, the appeal was dropped, and the Department of Labor formally rescinded it effective 15 May 2026.
What actually happened
The April 2024 rule raised the threshold to $844 a week on 1 July 2024 and scheduled $1,128 from 1 January 2025, with automatic updates every three years.
On 15 November 2024 the Eastern District of Texas vacated the entire rule nationwide, including the increase that had already taken effect. The Northern District of Texas vacated it too. The Department appealed, then stopped defending it, and the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeals on 5 May 2026.
The Department then formally rescinded the rule effective 15 May 2026, republishing the 2019 regulations and removing the automatic update mechanism entirely. That last part matters: there is now no scheduled increase at all.
The numbers in force
$684 a week for the executive, administrative and professional exemptions. $107,432 a year for highly compensated employees, which must include at least $684 a week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Lower figures apply in the territories — $455 a week in Guam, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands, and $380 in American Samoa.
If your employer raised salaries in 2024
Those increases do not have to be rolled back and are no longer legally required. Some employers reclassified staff to non-exempt and have since reclassified them back, which is lawful and carries a risk: clearing the salary threshold is only the first test, and the duties test has to be revalidated rather than assumed.
The state figures are frequently the ones that matter
California, New York, Washington and others set higher thresholds that govern where they apply — California’s is $70,304 a year in 2026, roughly double the federal figure. Check the state number before the federal one.
Why so much writing is wrong
Because the rule was live between July 2024 and November 2024, and plenty of guidance published in that window was never updated. A figure of $43,888 or $58,656 is a reliable sign of an article nobody has revisited.
Common questions
What is the current federal salary threshold?
$684 a week, or $35,568 a year, restored after the 2024 rule was vacated and formally rescinded effective 15 May 2026.
What about highly compensated employees?
$107,432 in total annual compensation, which must include at least $684 a week paid on a salary or fee basis.
Is another increase scheduled?
No. The rescission also removed the automatic update mechanism the 2024 rule had introduced.
My employer raised my salary in 2024 — can they reverse it?
The increase is no longer legally required, though it does not have to be rolled back. Reclassifying back also requires the duties test to be revalidated.
Why do I keep seeing $58,656?
That was the January 2025 figure under the vacated rule. It never became enforceable, and an article quoting it has not been revisited.