So How Much Do I Have to Pay My EAP Employees in 2025?

Executive, administrative and professional (EAP) employees are exempt from overtime pay if they perform certain duties and earn at least a certain salary. Under federal law, an executive employee must primarily perform management and supervisory duties and have input into the hiring, advancement or termination of employees; an administrative employee must primarily perform office or non-manual work related to the general business operations and be able to exercise discretion on important matters; and a professional employee must primarily perform work requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by intellectual instruction. 

From 2019 through 2024, the requisite salary threshold for all EAP employees was $684 per week ($35,568 annually). 

On April 26, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a rule that increased the salary threshold to $844 per week ($43,888 annually), effective July 1, 2024; $1,128 per week ($58,656 annually), effective Jan. 1, 2025; and automatic increases beginning July 1, 2027, and every three years thereafter. However, a recent U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas decision struck down the regulation. The court ruled that by focusing predominantly on salary levels, the rule effectively displaced the duties test, which the DOL lacked authority to do.

Thus, the court held the DOL also exceeded its authority in applying automatic increases. 

So what does this mean for employers? Now, under federal law, employers only have to pay employees at least $684 per week ($35,568 annually) to satisfy the EAP exemption.