Federal Overtime Law (FLSA) — The Baseline Every State Builds On
FLSA requires 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. No daily overtime. The 2024 DOL rule raising the salary threshold was vacated in November 2024; the $684/week level applies in 2026.
Threshold
40 h
per workweek. No daily overtime under federal law.
Rate
1.5x
the regular rate, which includes nondiscretionary bonuses and commissions.
Exempt salary floor
$684.00
per week ($35,568.00/year); HCE test $107,432.
Who the FLSA covers
Enterprise coverage reaches any business with $500,000 or more in annual sales, plus hospitals, schools and government agencies regardless of size. Individual coverage reaches employees of smaller businesses whose work involves interstate commerce — which courts read broadly enough that very few employees fall outside it. That is why Kansas's 46-hour and Minnesota's 48-hour state thresholds rarely matter in practice.
The workweek
A workweek is a fixed, regularly recurring 168-hour period. It can start on any day and hour, but once set it stays put, and overtime is figured on each week alone. Averaging a 30-hour week against a 50-hour week is not permitted.
Exemptions
The white-collar exemptions (executive, administrative, professional, computer, outside sales) require both the salary floor and a duties test. Other exemptions cover specific occupations — certain commissioned retail sales staff, motor carrier drivers, agricultural workers, seasonal amusement employees and others — each with its own conditions.
Common violations
- Paying overtime on base rate only and leaving bonuses or shift differentials out of the regular rate.
- Treating salaried employees as automatically exempt.
- Not counting off-the-clock work: pre-shift setup, post-shift closing, working through lunch, answering messages at home.
- Comp time in lieu of pay at private employers.
- Misclassifying employees as independent contractors.