Financial glossary
Exempt Employee
In plain English
A worker excluded from overtime pay under the FLSA based on meeting both a minimum salary level and a duties test.
An exempt employee is not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA, regardless of how many hours they actually work. Exemption depends on two tests that must both be met: a minimum salary level, and job duties that fall into an exempt category (executive, administrative, professional, and a few others).
Being salaried does not automatically mean exempt — a salaried worker paid below the threshold, or whose actual duties don’t match an exempt category, is still legally owed overtime, calculated from the hourly equivalent of their salary. Misclassification is common enough that the Department of Labor publishes fact sheets specifically to help workers check their own status.
The distinction has real financial weight: a non-exempt role that regularly runs 50-hour weeks gets paid for all of them; an exempt role at the same hours does not. Price that gap with the hourly to salary calculator and the overtime pay calculator.
Related calculators
- Overtime Pay CalculatorCalculate your weekly and annual pay with overtime at 1.5×, 2×, or any multiplier — and see exactly what those extra hours add per year.
- Hourly to Salary & Salary to Hourly CalculatorConvert hourly pay to annual salary or salary back to an hourly rate, with adjustable hours per week and weeks per year. Instant, accurate, free.