WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Fact Sheet #17B: Exemption for Executive Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Revised August 2024

This fact sheet provides information on the exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay provided by Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA as defined by regulations at 29 CFR part 541, as applied to executive employees.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek.

However, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempt employees in certain computer-related occupations. Job titles do not determine exemption status. In order for an exemption to apply, an employee's specific job duties and salary must meet the requirements of the Department's regulations. The standard salary level can be found in 29 CFR 541.600 and listed at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/salary-levels.

See other fact sheets in this series for more information on the exemptions for administrative, professional, computer and outside sales employees, and for more information on the salary basis requirement.

Executive Exemption

To qualify for the executive employee exemption, the employer must ensure all of the following requirements are met:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than the standard salary level required by 29 CFR 541.600 and listed at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/salary-levels;
• The employee's primary duty must be managing the enterprise, or managing a customarily recognized department or subdivision of the enterprise;
• The employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more other full-time employees or their equivalent; and
• The employee must have the authority to hire or fire other employees, or the employee's suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status of other employees must be given particular weight.

Primary Duty

"Primary duty" means the principal, main, major or most important duty that the employee performs. Determination of an employee's primary duty must be based on all the facts in a particular case, with the major emphasis on the character of the employee's job as a whole.

Management

Generally, "management" includes, but is not limited to, activities such as interviewing, selecting, and training of employees; setting and adjusting their rates of pay and hours of work; directing the work of employees; maintaining production or sales records for use in supervision or control; appraising employees' productivity and efficiency for the purpose of recommending promotions or other changes in status; handling employee complaints and grievances; disciplining employees; planning the work; determining the techniques to be used; apportioning the work among the employees; determining the type of materials, supplies, machinery, equipment or tools to be used or merchandise to be bought, stocked and sold; controlling the flow and distribution of materials or merchandise and supplies; providing for the safety and security of the employees or the property; planning and controlling the budget; and monitoring or implementing legal compliance measures.

Department or Subdivision

The phrase "a customarily recognized department or subdivision" is intended to distinguish between a mere collection of employees assigned from time to time to a specific job or series of jobs and a unit with permanent status and function.

Customarily and Regularly

The phrase "customarily and regularly" means greater than occasional but less than constant; it includes work normally done every workweek, but does not include isolated or one-time tasks.

Two or More

The phrase "two or more other employees" means two full-time employees or their equivalent. For example, one full-time and two half-time employees are equivalent to two full-time employees. The supervision can be distributed among two, three or more employees, but each such employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more other full-time employees or the equivalent. For example, a department with five full-time nonexempt workers may have up to two exempt supervisors if each supervisor directs the work of two of those workers.

Particular Weight

Factors to be considered in determining whether an employee's recommendations as to hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status are given "particular weight" include, but are not limited to, whether it is part of the employee's job duties to make such recommendations, and the frequency with which such recommendations are made, requested, and relied upon. Generally, an executive's recommendations must pertain to employees whom the executive customarily and regularly directs. It does not include occasional suggestions. An employee's recommendations may still be deemed to have "particular weight" even if a higher level manager's recommendation has more importance and even if the employee does not have authority to make the ultimate decision as to the employee's change in status.

Exemption of Business Owners

Under a special rule for business owners, an employee who owns at least a bona fide 20-percent equity interest in the enterprise in which employed, regardless of the type of business organization (e.g., corporation, partnership, or other), and who is actively engaged in its management, is considered a bona fide exempt executive. The salary level and salary basis requirements do not apply to such business owners.

Highly Compensated Employees

Highly compensated employees performing office or non-manual work and who meet the compensation requirements provided in 29 CFR 541.601 and listed at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/salary-levels are exempt from the FLSA's minimum wage and overtime requirements if they customarily and regularly perform at least one of the duties of an exempt executive, administrative or professional employee identified in the standard tests for exemption.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations.

The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. This document is intended only to provide clarity to the public regarding existing requirements under the law or agency policies.