WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Fact Sheet #17K: Veterans and the Part 541 Exemptions Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Revised September 2019

On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (Department) published a final rule, Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees, to update and revise the regulations issued under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act implementing the exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, and professional employees. Revisions included increases to the standard salary level and the highly compensated employee total annual compensation threshold, and a mechanism for updating these earnings thresholds to reflect current earnings data. On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated the Department's 2024 final rule. Consequently, with regard to enforcement, the Department is applying the 2019 rule's minimum salary level of $684 per week and total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees of $107,432 per year. Lawsuits regarding the 2024 final rule are currently pending in two other federal district courts, and the United States has filed a notice of appeal from the November 15 decision. The Department will update this notice with additional information as it becomes available.

This fact sheet provides general information on the exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay provided by Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA as it applies to veterans.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the United States be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

However, Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees employed as bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. Section 13(a)(1) and Section 13(a)(17) also exempts certain computer employees. To qualify for exemption, employees must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $684 per week.

Veterans

Veterans are not exempt administrative, executive or professional employees under Section 13(a)(1) based upon their status as veterans. Military training, for example, generally is not sufficient to meet the requirements for the professional exemption in 29 C.F.R. Part 541. Specifically, the learned professional exemption requires:

1. The employee’s primary duty must be to perform work requiring advanced knowledge;
2. The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and
3. The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

No amount of military training will satisfy the requirements of the learned professional exemption because the exemption applies only to employees who are in occupations that have attained recognized professional status, which requires that an advanced specialized academic degree is a standard prerequisite for entrance into the profession. No amount of military training can turn a “blue collar” occupation or a technical field into a profession. For example, a veteran who has received substantial military training as a veteran but works on a manufacturing production line or as an engineering technician is not exempt under Section 13(a)(1) from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA.

Where to Obtain Additional Information

For additional information, visit our Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd and/or call our toll-free information and helpline, available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone, 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243).

This publication is for general information and is not to be considered in the same light as official statements of position contained in the regulations.