Estimates of the share of workers impacted by changes to the salary threshold for the white collar exemption from overtime by select worker characteristics, 2022
| Demographics | Workers subject to FLSA (millions) | Share of workers subject to FLSA who are currently exempt from overtime | Share who would be exempt if the threshold had been set appropriately in 2019 (and had remained at that level) | Share who would be exempt if threshold had been set appropriately in 2019 and had not been allowed to erode as the general wage distribution rose. Note, this is also the share exempt under the proposal. | Percentage point decline in exemption as a result of correcting the error in the threshold-setting methodology in the 2019 update | Percentage point decline in exemption as a result of updating the threshold to account for the rise in the overall wage distribution since the 2019 update | Total percentage point decline in exemption under the proposed threshold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 139.4 | 20.3% | 19.1% | 17.7% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 72.2 | 23.0% | 21.9% | 20.7% | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| Female | 67.2 | 17.5% | 16.1% | 14.5% | 1.5 | 1.6 | 3.0 |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 84.6 | 23.3% | 22.0% | 20.5% | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 17.5 | 13.2% | 11.9% | 10.7% | 1.3 | 1.2 | 2.5 |
| Hispanic, any race | 25.6 | 10.2% | 9.3% | 8.4% | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
| Asian, non-Hispanic | 10.3 | 34.1% | 32.7% | 31.0% | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
| Other race/ethnicity | 1.4 | 13.0% | 12.0% | 10.6% | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Race/ethnicity & gender | |||||||
| White – Male | 43.7 | 26.8% | 25.7% | 24.4% | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 |
| White – Female | 40.9 | 19.6% | 18.0% | 16.3% | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 |
| Black – Male | 8.1 | 13.9% | 12.8% | 11.7% | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Black – Female | 9.4 | 12.5% | 11.1% | 9.8% | 1.4 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
| Hispanic – Male | 14.3 | 10.5% | 9.9% | 9.1% | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Hispanic – Female | 11.3 | 9.6% | 8.6% | 7.5% | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 |
| Asian – Male | 5.4 | 39.6% | 38.4% | 36.9% | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| Asian – Female | 5.0 | 28.2% | 26.6% | 24.7% | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 |
| Other – Male | 0.7 | 13.5% | 12.6% | 11.4% | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.1 |
| Other – Female | 0.7 | 12.6% | 11.4% | 9.8% | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| Age | |||||||
| 16–24 | 18.1 | 4.6% | 3.8% | 3.2% | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.3 |
| 25–34 | 33.3 | 20.5% | 18.9% | 17.0% | 1.6 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
| 35–44 | 30.3 | 25.1% | 23.8% | 22.3% | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| 45–54 | 27.5 | 24.7% | 23.5% | 22.1% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| 55–64 | 22.6 | 22.2% | 21.1% | 19.9% | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 |
| 65+ | 7.5 | 17.0% | 15.8% | 14.6% | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Education | |||||||
| Less than high school | 10.3 | 1.3% | 1.1% | 0.9% | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| High school | 35.8 | 6.3% | 5.6% | 4.9% | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Some college | 36.9 | 11.7% | 10.5% | 9.4% | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.3 |
| College | 35.8 | 37.9% | 35.9% | 33.5% | 2.0 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| Advanced | 20.5 | 39.2% | 37.8% | 36.0% | 1.4 | 1.8 | 3.2 |
| Major industry | |||||||
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting | 1.3 | 4.5% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Mining | 0.6 | 27.4% | 26.8% | 25.8% | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 |
| Construction | 8.9 | 13.4% | 12.5% | 11.7% | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.7 |
| Manufacturing | 15.1 | 25.8% | 24.8% | 23.7% | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2.1 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | 18.6 | 14.5% | 13.4% | 12.3% | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 |
| Transportation and utilities | 8.5 | 12.1% | 11.4% | 10.7% | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| Information | 2.6 | 37.5% | 35.2% | 32.8% | 2.3 | 2.4 | 4.7 |
| Financial activities | 9.9 | 43.1% | 40.9% | 38.3% | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.9 |
| Professional and business services | 16.8 | 40.2% | 38.4% | 36.1% | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.1 |
| Educational and health services | 34.6 | 13.7% | 12.5% | 11.3% | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.4 |
| Leisure and hospitality | 11.6 | 7.5% | 6.7% | 5.9% | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 |
| Other services | 5.3 | 13.9% | 12.5% | 11.3% | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.6 |
| Public administration | 5.6 | 17.9% | 16.4% | 14.7% | 1.5 | 1.7 | 3.2 |
| Major occupation | |||||||
| Management, business, and financial occupations | 23.7 | 60.9% | 57.8% | 54.1% | 3.1 | 3.7 | 6.8 |
| Professional and related occupations | 34.8 | 29.5% | 27.7% | 25.8% | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.7 |
| Service occupations | 21.8 | 0.7% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Sales and related occupations | 12.6 | 18.3% | 16.8% | 15.3% | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.1 |
| Office and administrative support occupations | 15.8 | 6.4% | 5.5% | 4.6% | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations | 0.9 | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Construction and extraction occupations | 6.7 | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations | 4.5 | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.8% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Production occupations | 8.0 | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Transportation and material moving occupations | 10.6 | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Census division | |||||||
| New England | 6.8 | 24.8% | 23.7% | 22.3% | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 |
| Middle Atlantic | 17.9 | 22.4% | 21.2% | 19.8% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| East North Central | 20.5 | 19.4% | 18.2% | 16.8% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| West North Central | 9.9 | 18.6% | 17.3% | 15.8% | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.8 |
| South Atlantic | 26.8 | 20.7% | 19.2% | 17.6% | 1.5 | 1.6 | 3.1 |
| East South Central | 7.7 | 15.7% | 14.3% | 12.9% | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| West South Central | 17.0 | 18.8% | 17.5% | 16.1% | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.8 |
| Mountain | 10.7 | 19.1% | 18.0% | 16.6% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| Pacific | 22.1 | 21.9% | 21.0% | 20.0% | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Sector | |||||||
| Government | 18.7 | 11.7% | 10.7% | 9.6% | 1.0 | 1.1 | 2.1 |
| Private, for profit | 110.9 | 21.5% | 20.3% | 19.0% | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.6 |
| Private, nonprofit | 9.8 | 23.2% | 21.3% | 19.3% | 1.9 | 2.0 | 3.9 |
Notes: Subtotals may not add up to totals due to rounding. Weekly wages are inflated to 2022$ using the Consumer Price Index. Sample size references the sample size of workers potentially affected. Tested threshold refers to workers who are affected by the proposed standard salary level change and make less than the 2018 35th percentile full-time salaried Southern wages ($905/week) or workers who are affected by the HCE salary level change and make less than the 85th percentile of full-time salaried wages nationwide ($2,308/week).
Source: EPI analysis of pooled Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata, 2020–2022, following the methodology used in the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2023 rule, “Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees,” 29 CFR Part 541 (published Sept. 8, 2023)