If an employee earns $100,000 in one year, are they automatically exempt?
A. No. Under the salary requirements for highly compensated employees, they would have to customarily and regularly perform any one or more of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive, administrative or professional exemption test (29 CFR part 541.601 a). An employee may qualify as a highly compensated executive employee, for example, if the employee customarily and regularly directs the work of two or more other employees, even though the employee does not meet all of the other requirements for the executive exemption (29 CFR part 541.601 c).
