The Department of Labor (DOL) posted a rule to the Federal Register on May 15, 2026, rescinding its 2024 final rule implementing the exemptions from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees. LeadingAge commented on the proposed rule in 2023, stating that while we appreciated the need to update the salary level periodically, we were concerned that the Department’s proposed increase will be greater than many providers can absorb without significant impacts on their operations. We asked the agency to consider a smaller increase.

The 2024 final rule was subject to a number of legal challenges and was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in November 2024. DOL recently dropped its appeal of that decision before the 5th Circuit. The Department’s May 15 rule is technical in nature and simply removes the regulatory text from the 2024 final rule from the Code of Federal Regulations.

On the heels of this rescission, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Mark Takano (D-CA) introduced a bill (S. 4551) on May 18 that would establish a minimum salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees exempt from Federal overtime compensation requirements, and automatically update the threshold each year. The salary threshold would start at $45,000 annually and would increase by $10,000 increments each year until 2030, at which point the annualized salary threshold would be equal to the rate of the 55th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers nationally (and be subject to automatic updates thereafter). According to Sen. Sanders’ press release, the 55th percentile of full-time salaried workers nationally could increase to $98,000 by 2030. The current salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees exempt from Federal overtime compensation requirements is $35,568 annually. We will continue to monitor any developments relating to this legislation.