The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) regulations set out a minimum salary level for an employee to be exempt from overtime requirements under the administrative, executive, and professional exemptions. To qualify for one of these exemptions, the Department of Labor requires employees to be paid at least $684 per week on a salary basis.
States can (but do not have to) set a higher minimum pay to qualify as exempt from state overtime laws. There are six of these states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, New York, Washington. Several of these states have different duties requirements, or differ in other ways, than the exemption tests under the FLSA, but this article only concerns the minimum salary requirements. A number of cities have also established different minimum salary requirements for exempt employees employed within their jurisdictions.
Five of the six states with different salary requirements for exempt status are raising the salary requirement as of January 1, 2026:
Increasing Exemption Threshold:
- California – will increase to $1,352.00 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative, executive, professional exemptions)
- Colorado – will increase to $1,111.23 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative, executive, professional exemptions)
- Maine – will increase to $871.16 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative, executive, professional exemptions)
- New York – in New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County, Westchester County – will increase to $1,275.00 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative and executive exemptions); everywhere else in New York – will increase to $1,199.10 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative and executive exemptions)
- Washington – will increase to $1,541.70 per week on January 1, 2026 (administrative, executive, professional exemptions)
This means that an employee who is exempt in 2025 in one of those states may not be exempt in 2026 unless they receive additional guaranteed salary each week.
Also, it is important to note that Alaska increased its minimum salary to $1,040.00 per week back on July 1, 2025 (administrative, executive, professional exemptions)
If you or your organization have questions about the overtime exemptions or general wage and hour regulatory guidance, please reach out to a Kullman attorney.