New FLSA Salary Threshold

Date Posted: Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Posted In: Current Legal Issues, Employment Law, Wage and Hour Updates

(Updated 5/16/24) The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new final rule revising and increasing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum salary thresholds in 29 C.F.R. Part 541. See 89 F.R. 32842.

The new rule, which takes effect on July 1, 2024, raises the minimum salary threshold required for workers to be considered exempt from overtime pay requirements under the FLSA. For workers covered by the “executive,” “administrative,” and “professional” exemptions, the minimum salary threshold will be raised to $844 a week or $43,888 annually. Additional increases in minimum salary levels will occur on January 1, 2025 and on July 1, 2027 and every three years thereafter based on a new methodology. See links below for more information.

For purposes of overtime pay requirements and related exemptions, municipal employers in Maine are governed solely by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for. See 26 M.R.S. § 664(3)(D).

It’s important to remember that paying an employee a salary above the minimum required salary, by itself, does not create an exemption from overtime pay obligations. Under the FLSA, in order to be exempt from overtime pay requirements employees must: (1) be paid on a “salaried basis,” meaning that they are paid a predetermined and fixed amount that is not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of work performed; (2) be paid at least the minimum federal salary threshold, and (3) meet a “duties” test by holding a job that meets specific FLSA criteria.

MMA Legal Services discusses these requirements in detail in our “Fair Labor Standards Act” Information Packet available in the “Legal” section of MMA’s website (www.memun.org/legal).

For more information about the new rule, see the U.S. DOL’s webpage discussing the new rule at: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime/rulemaking.