Higher salary threshold for exempt employees on the horizon again

Tonda Rush

Apr 1, 2022

The Biden Administration’s Department of Labor is expected to propose a higher salary threshold for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. National Newspaper Association Chair of Governmental and Postal Committee Matthew Paxton, publisher of the News-Gazette in Lexington, Virginia, said the existing $684 per week threshold for salaried, exempt workers was last changed during the Trump administration and was expected to rise later in 2022.
Some labor advocates have urged the Labor Department to double the threshold, which would establish a new level at about $71,000 a year.

NNA participated in a listening session with Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in March, where newspaper experts said rising newsprint and postage costs were already hammering publishers.

NNA requested a delay. Labor has authority to raise the ceiling without legislation.