Court-Blocked Overtime Rule Officially Repealed

The U.S. Department of Labor has formally rescinded the overtime regulation issued in 2024, restoring the salary thresholds established under the agency’s 2019 overtime rule and ending ongoing uncertainty surrounding the requirements for exempt employees.

The move follows a series of federal court decisions that invalidated the 2024 rule before it could be fully implemented. The regulation would have significantly increased the minimum salary levels required for employees to qualify for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and would have established automatic updates to those thresholds every three years.

With the rescission now finalized, employers will continue to apply the salary levels that have been in place since 2020. Employees generally must earn at least $684 per week, or $35,568 annually, and satisfy the applicable duties tests to qualify for the white-collar exemptions. The annual compensation threshold for the highly compensated employee exemption remains $107,432.

The now-withdrawn 2024 rule would have increased the standard salary threshold to $844 per week beginning in July 2024 and to $1,128 per week beginning in January 2025. Courts blocked the rule before the higher thresholds could take effect nationwide.

The Labor Department also withdrew its appeals of the court rulings that struck down the regulation. While the agency has indicated it may continue evaluating overtime requirements in the future, no new rulemaking proposal has been announced.