A job title never makes anyone exempt. The white-collar exemptions start with a pay figure, and if the pay fails, the analysis stops there.
The standard salary level
The standard FLSA white-collar exemption salary level is $684 per week, which is $35,568 per year ($684 x 52).
Learn both halves of that pair together. Higher annual figures that circulate come from later rulemaking, not from the standard level published on the current fact sheet, and tracking proposals instead of the level in effect is the typical error here.
Apply it
A salaried office coordinator paid $650 per week who regularly works 47 hours: $684 - $650 = $34 short of the standard salary level. The exemption is unavailable regardless of job title, and overtime at 1.5 times the regular rate is owed for the 7 hours over 40.
Two wrong instincts to name outright:
- Salaried does not mean exempt. That fallacy is what the controller in the question is relying on.
- Raising the salary going forward, or cutting the schedule, does not erase hours already worked. Pay what is owed, then fix the classification.
The other two figures
- Highly compensated employee exemption: total annual compensation of $107,432 or more. The older round figure of $100,000 is what candidates recall, and the higher numbers are proposals.
- Computer employee exemption, when paid hourly rather than on a salary basis: at least $27.63 an hour.
$27.63 is the number people transpose under time pressure - it is not $26.37 or $23.76. And $35,568 is an annual figure, never an hourly rate, so do not let a choice near that shape pull you off $27.63.
Carry this in
Four numbers, each attached to one thing: $684 per week, $35,568 per year, $107,432 total annual compensation for the HCE exemption, $27.63 per hour for a computer employee paid hourly. Check pay first, title last.