Put It In Reverse: DOL Rolls Back 2024 Biden-Era Overtime Rule

Key Takeaways:

• The U.S. Department of Labor has rescinded the 2024 rule that sought to expand overtime eligibility by raising the salary threshold for white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• The DOL is reinstating the 2019 overtime salary threshold from the first Trump Administration: $684 per week ($35,568 annually).

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) is putting things in reverse once again. On May 13, 2026, the DOL’s rescinded the 2024 Biden-era overtime rule, which substantially increased the salary thresholds for the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (“FLSA”) white-collar exemptions.

Restoring the Trump-Era 2019 Threshold

The FLSA generally requires employers to pay overtime to employees who work more than 40 hours per week. But under the White Collar Exemption, or Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA, bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees with certain duties and whose salaries exceed a given threshold are exempt from overtime requirements.

The DOL’s Biden-era 2024 rule sought to raise the minimum salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees from $684 per week to $844 per week beginning July 1, 2024, with a second increase scheduled for January 1, 2025, to $1,128 per week. The rule also increased the highly compensated employee threshold and included automatic updates every three years.

In November 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the rule nationwide, holding in State of Texas v. U.S. Department of Labor that the DOL exceeded its authority by placing too much emphasis on salary level over employee duties. The court held that the sweeping increase effectively supplanted the duties test Congress intended to govern exempt status determinations. This lawsuit was one of several successful legal challenges to the 2024 rule.

Notably, although the Biden Administration appealed those decisions to the Fifth Circuit, the current DOL recently dropped both appeals.

The decision echoes prior judicial skepticism toward aggressive salary threshold increases. In 2017, another Texas federal court invalidated the Obama administration’s proposed overtime rule in Nevada v. U.S. Department of Labor for similar reasons.

Immediate Impact on Employers

The May 13, 2026 rescission means the DOL’s 2024 salary increases are officially no longer enforceable, and the salary threshold reverts to the prior level of $684 per week. The reinstatement of the 2019 threshold is effective immediately, and no notice or comment period will be available.

Employers should remember that exempt status is not determined by salary alone. Rather, whether an employee qualifies as exempt still requires satisfaction of both the salary basis and duties tests.

This reversion of the FLSA’s salary threshold does not supersede higher minimum salary thresholds for exempt employees set by individual states. Because of this, employers are urged to monitor state wage and hour laws to ensure that their exempt employees are receiving a salary that   equals or exceeds the higher of the federal or applicable state requirement – particularly for those organizations operating in multiple jurisdictions.

For guidance on how this rule affects your business, contact your Polsinelli attorney.