Many employees assume that once an employer puts them on salary, they are no longer entitled to overtime.
That is not necessarily true.
Being paid a salary does not, by itself, mean you aren’t entitled to overtime. Under federal and New York law, an employee’s actual job duties, compensation, and the particular overtime exemption claimed by the employer all matter. As a result, a salaried employee who regularly works more than 40 hours per week may still be entitled to overtime pay.
Does Being Paid a Salary Mean I Don’t Get Overtime?
No. A salary alone does not eliminate an employee’s right to overtime.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), covered non-exempt employees generally must receive overtime compensation at one-and-one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. New York law also generally requires overtime after 40 hours for covered non-exempt employees. Employers sometimes describe workers as “salaried,” “management,” or “exempt.” Those descriptions do not necessarily resolve the legal question.
What Does It Mean to Be an “Exempt” Employee?
An exempt employee is excluded from certain wage-and-hour protections that would otherwise apply. Several exemptions exist, but three frequently encountered exemptions are the:
- Executive exemption;
- Administrative exemption; and
- Professional exemption.
Each has its own requirements. An employee does not become exempt simply because the employer pays a salary or gives the employee an impressive title.
Under current federal regulations, employees qualifying for the executive, administrative, or professional exemptions generally must be paid on a salary or fee basis of at least $684 per week, subject to exceptions for certain occupations. They must also satisfy the applicable duties test.
New York imposes additional requirements. As of January 1, 2026, the New York salary threshold for the executive and administrative exemptions is $1,275 per week in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties, and $1,199.10 per week in the remainder of New York State.
Because federal and New York requirements are not identical, whether a particular employee is exempt requires consideration of the laws applicable to that employee.
Does Being Called a “Manager” Make Me Exempt?
No.
This is one of the most important misconceptions about overtime.
An employer cannot necessarily avoid paying overtime simply by giving an employee a title such as:
- Manager;
- Assistant Manager;
- Supervisor;
- Team Lead;
- Operations Manager; or
- Director.
Federal regulations specifically provide that job titles do not determine exempt status.
For the federal executive exemption, for example, an employee’s primary duty generally must be management; the employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two other employees; and the employee must have hiring or firing authority, or recommendations concerning personnel decisions must be given particular weight. The applicable salary requirement must also be satisfied.
So consider an “Assistant Manager” who spends most of the workday performing substantially the same tasks as hourly employees and has little meaningful authority over staffing or personnel decisions.
The title Assistant Manager does not, standing alone, establish that the employee is exempt.
The actual facts matter.
What About Salaried Office Employees?
Employers may also classify certain office employees under the administrative exemption.
But performing office work does not automatically make someone an exempt administrative employee.
Under the federal administrative exemption, the employee’s primary duty generally must involve office or non-manual work directly related to management or the employer’s general business operations, and that primary duty must include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment concerning matters of significance.
That can create issues for employees whose jobs sound administrative but whose actual work is highly standardized, closely supervised, or governed by established procedures.
Again, the employee’s title is not the controlling issue.
What About Professional Employees?
Federal law also contains exemptions for certain learned and creative professionals.
For the learned-professional exemption, an employee’s primary duty generally must involve work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired through prolonged specialized intellectual instruction.
There are also special rules for certain occupations. For example, federal salary requirements generally do not apply in the same way to bona fide teachers or employees actually engaged in the practice of law or medicine.
Simply being a skilled or experienced salaried employee, however, does not necessarily establish the professional exemption.
What If I Earn a High Salary?
A high salary does not necessarily eliminate all overtime protections.
Federal law has a separate test for certain highly compensated employees who perform office or non-manual work. But even that exemption contains a duties component; compensation alone is not the entire test.
Federal regulations also make clear that the highly compensated employee exemption does not apply to non-management production workers and employees performing manual work in occupations such as construction, maintenance, carpentry, electrical work, plumbing, and similar trades merely because they are highly paid.
Accordingly, employees should be cautious about assuming that a high salary automatically means they cannot receive overtime.
What Does “Salary Basis” Mean?
Even when an exemption requires a salary, the manner in which the salary is paid can matter.
Under federal regulations, being paid on a “salary basis” generally means receiving a predetermined amount of compensation each pay period that is not subject to reduction based on variations in the quality or quantity of the employee’s work. Subject to specified exceptions, an exempt employee generally must receive the full salary for any week in which the employee performs work.
Improper deductions therefore may raise additional questions about whether an employee has actually been compensated on the salary basis required for an exemption.
What If I Work More Than 40 Hours Every Week?
If you are properly classified as exempt, working more than 40 hours generally does not, by itself, create an overtime entitlement under the FLSA.
But if you have been misclassified as exempt, those additional hours can become extremely important.
Consider a salaried employee who regularly works:
Monday–Friday: 8:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Lunch: 30 minutes
Hours worked: approximately 45 hours per week
If that employee is non-exempt, the five hours above 40 may represent overtime hours.
And the discrepancy can become larger when an employee also performs work that isn’t reflected in the employer’s official time records.
For example:
- Answering work emails at night;
- Completing paperwork after leaving the office;
- Performing opening or closing duties;
- Responding to supervisors before the scheduled workday;
- Working through unpaid meal periods; or
- Performing tasks after clocking out.
How Can I Tell If I’ve Been Misclassified?
There is no single question that resolves every exemption issue.
Some useful questions include:
How am I paid?
Is your compensation actually paid on a salary basis, and does it satisfy the applicable threshold?
What do I actually do?
Your day-to-day responsibilities generally matter more than the title printed on your business card.
Do I actually manage employees?
If the employer relies on the executive exemption, your authority and management responsibilities may be significant.
How much independent judgment do I exercise?
This can be particularly important when an employer relies on the administrative exemption.
Does my work require specialized advanced education?
That may be relevant to certain professional exemptions.
How many hours do I actually work?
If you are misclassified, the difference between your actual hours and recorded hours can affect the amount of unpaid overtime at issue.
What Records Should I Keep?
If you believe you may have been misclassified, preserve records that can help establish both what you did and when you did it.
Depending on the circumstances, useful evidence may include:
- Offer letters and employment agreements;
- Job descriptions;
- Employee handbooks;
- Paystubs and wage statements;
- Work schedules;
- Time records;
- Emails and text messages;
- Performance evaluations;
- Organizational charts;
- Documents showing your actual responsibilities;
- Communications concerning hiring, firing, discipline, or supervision; and
- Your own contemporaneous record of the hours you actually worked.
This can be important because exemption disputes frequently concern the employee’s actual responsibilities, not merely the employer’s written description of the position.
What Can a Misclassified Employee Recover?
An employee who was improperly classified as exempt may be able to recover unpaid overtime compensation.
Depending on the facts and the claims available, additional remedies may also include liquidated damages, interest, and attorneys’ fees.
The precise recovery depends on factors including the applicable law, the employee’s compensation structure, the number of overtime hours worked, the relevant limitations period, and whether any defenses apply.
The Bottom Line
Being paid a salary does not automatically mean you are exempt from overtime.
Likewise, being called a “manager,” “supervisor,” “administrator,” or “professional” does not necessarily determine your rights.
For many salaried employees, the critical questions are what they actually do, how they are paid, how much authority and discretion they actually exercise, and which exemption the employer claims applies.
If you regularly work more than 40 hours per week and have been told that you do not receive overtime simply because you are “salaried,” it may be worth examining your classification more closely.
Speak With a New York Employment Attorney
Naidich Law represents employees in wage-and-hour matters throughout New York City and New York State. If you believe you have been improperly classified as exempt and denied overtime compensation, you can contact Naidich Law to discuss your circumstances.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article or contacting the firm does not, by itself, create an attorney-client relationship. The application of federal and New York wage-and-hour laws depends on the specific facts and circumstances of each matter.