The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal law governing employee compensation in U.S. workplaces. Some states also apply their own, more rigorous wage and hour laws. The FLSA requires employers to pay employees a minimum wage for all hours worked and a time-and-a-half overtime rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. However, the FLSA provides certain exemptions from the minimum wage and overtime requirements.
The so-called “white collar” exemptions to the minimum wage and overtime requirements refer to the executive, administrative, professional, computer, and outside sales exemptions. To qualify for one of these exemptions, employees must receive a predetermined salary not subject to reduction based on the number of hours worked or the quality of work and the salary must meet the minimum “threshold” prescribed under the FLSA, currently $684 per week or $35,568 annually. In addition, employees must satisfy duties tests set out by the FLSA to fit into one of the exemptions.