CT exempt: $684/week federal salary + duties test.
Connecticut does not have a state-specific exempt salary threshold — the federal FLSA $684/week ($35,568/year) controls. The duties test mirrors federal 29 CFR Part 541: executive, administrative, professional, computer, or outside sales primary duties. The structural feature that makes Connecticut distinctive: at the $16.94 state minimum wage and 40 hrs/week, a non-exempt worker earns $677.60 weekly — only $6.40 below the federal exempt threshold. This narrow gap creates significant exposure for borderline-exempt classifications, where misclassified workers can be re-classified to non-exempt with retroactive overtime liability and double damages.
FLSA Exempt Classification + Borderline Audit
Validates exempt classification against $684/week salary basis and duties test. Surfaces borderline classifications close to the $677.60 minimum-wage-equivalent floor. Annual review enforced.
What those rules do at hire and at review.
The hero card configuration: Avoid on misclassification risk, Flag on borderline cases, Critical on double-damages exposure.
When a worker is classified exempt at a salary below $684/week, Teambridge surfaces an Avoid indicator. Classification will fail FLSA review even if duties test is met.
Workers classified exempt at salaries between $677.60 and $750/week sit in Connecticut's narrow exposure zone. At minimum wage equivalent, a single hour of OT mismatch can shift the analysis. Borderline classifications receive heightened review.
Misclassification creates layered exposure under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-72: full back OT (FLSA 2-year SOL, 3 for willful) doubled by default, plus liquidated damages under FLSA, plus attorney fees. Class action exposure when patterns affect multiple workers.
Deploy Connecticut exempt classification in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your Connecticut workforce. We'll spin up FLSA-compliant classification with salary basis enforcement, borderline-zone tracking, duties test documentation, double-damages exposure dashboards, and 21 other Connecticut policies in a sandbox tenant.
Federal salary basis + duties test — narrow gap to minimum wage creates exposure.
FLSA exempt classification requires both a salary above the threshold AND primary duties matching one of the white-collar exemptions. In Connecticut, the narrow $6.40 gap between minimum-wage equivalent and exempt threshold makes precision essential.
Federal floor controls
Connecticut does not have a state-specific exempt threshold. The federal FLSA $684/week ($35,568/year) is the controlling minimum. The DOL's attempted 2024 increase to $1,128/week was vacated by the Eastern District of Texas in November 2024, leaving the federal $684 in place nationwide. Connecticut tracks the federal floor.
Narrow gap to minimum-wage equivalent
At the $16.94 state minimum wage and 40 hrs/week, a non-exempt worker earns $677.60 weekly. The federal exempt threshold is $684 — a gap of only $6.40/week, or $0.16/hour. This is the smallest gap of any state in the country. The structural narrowness means borderline-exempt workers (those at salaries close to the threshold) sit in significant exposure: a single misallocation of compensation, a salary cut to a worker at $700/week, or an off-cycle deduction can easily drop the worker below the threshold and trigger re-classification.
Teambridge enforces salary basis, surfaces the narrow CT gap, and triggers borderline review.
The narrow $6.40 gap between minimum-wage equivalent and exempt threshold makes Connecticut the highest-risk state for borderline exempt classification.
$684/wk threshold validated.
When a worker is classified exempt, the salary is validated against $684/week. Below the threshold → Avoid surface.
$677.60-$750 flagged for review.
Workers classified exempt at salaries near the minimum-wage equivalent ($677.60) sit in the narrow exposure zone. Compensation changes that could drop them below threshold trigger heightened review.
Duties re-validated each year.
Each hire anniversary, exempt workers are flagged for classification review. Captured primary duty is compared against actual recent job content. Drift → reclassification recommended.
Misclassification → liability calculation.
If reclassification is recommended, Teambridge calculates the back-OT exposure doubled under § 31-72 plus FLSA liquidated damages plus attorney fees. Operators see the full liability before commitment.
Still evaluating? Get a free Connecticut compliance audit.
Send us your existing Connecticut scheduling and pay configuration. Our compliance team returns a written audit within 5 business days — every Connecticut-specific exposure ranked by risk and back-pay liability.