What is the executive exemption under the FLSA?
An employee employed in a bona fide executive capacity is exempt from the FLSA's overtime and minimum-wage requirements. The test has a salary component and a duties component, both of which must be met.
The test
29 CFR § 541.100 defines the executive exemption: the employee must be compensated on a salary basis at not less than the level in § 541.600, have a primary duty of management of the enterprise or a recognized department, customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more other employees, and have the authority to hire or fire (or have particular weight given to such recommendations).
A citation to watch
A brief might cite 29 CFR § 541.602 as the duties test. Section 541.602 is the salary-basis rule, not the executive-duties test, so the judge rejects it as unsupported.
How these citations were verified
Ruled 2026-06-22Every citation in the answer above was submitted to the Kingsfield judge and ruled against the primary-law corpus — Accept, Reject, or Inconclusive, per citation. These are live verdicts, not editorial. Each card shows the verbatim authority text the verdict was rendered against.
Proposition: An employee in a bona fide executive capacity is exempt where paid on a salary basis at the required level, with a primary duty of management, who directs two or more employees and has hire/fire authority.
“§ 541.100 General rule for executive employees. The term ‘employee employed in a bona fide executive capacity’ … shall mean any employee: Compensated on a salary basis at not less than the level set forth in § 541.600…”
Cite found; proposition supported by the cited text.
Proposition: 29 CFR 541.602 sets the primary-duty test for the executive exemption (managing, directing two or more employees, hiring authority).
Cite found, but the cited text does not support the proposition. 29 CFR 541.602 is the salary-basis rule, not the executive-duties test. Regenerate with 29 CFR 541.100.
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