A Refresher On "Salary Basis" Under The FLSA

In light of last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., et al., v. Hewitt, it may be a good idea to provide a refresher about the "salary basis" requirement for white-collar employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In order to be exempt from overtime under the FLSA, white collar employees generally have to be paid on a salary basis. This is true for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions, as well as the highly compensated exemption. The salary basis is an option for the computer related occupations exemption. It is not required under the outside salesperson exemption. Out of the six different categories of white collar exemptions, the salary basis is a standard in four of the six, an option in a fifth, and is not required in the sixth.