The Kantor Test Calculator

In 1958, DOL economist Harry Kantor found that roughly 10% of workers who passed the duties test earned below the then-current salary threshold. This "Kantor standard" has been used as a benchmark for evaluating salary thresholds: when the share excluded grows substantially beyond 10%, the salary level may be doing more work than the duties analysis. Use this tool to see where any salary threshold falls relative to that benchmark.

Current Rule (2019)
$684 / week
$35,568 / year
5.8% excluded
Vacated 2016 Rule
$913 / week
$47,476 / year
10.9% excluded
Vacated 2024 Rule
$1,128 / week
$58,656 / year
18.9% excluded
Weekly salary
$684 / wk
Duties test threshold
What share of O*NET tasks must be classified as exempt for a worker to be considered a "duties-test passer"? A lower threshold is more permissive (more workers pass); a higher threshold is more restrictive.
0% of duties-test passers excluded 100%
Kantor 10%
10%
of duties-test passers
earn below this threshold
Within Kantor Standard
Methodology note: The exclusion share is computed directly from CPS 2025 data linked to O*NET task-based exemption measures. "Duties-test passers" are salaried workers in occupations where at least the selected share of O*NET tasks are classified Exempt. Exclusion rates are known exactly at four benchmark wage levels ($684, $844, $913, $1,128/week); values between benchmarks are linearly interpolated on the log-wage scale. The exclusion rate is similar across all five duties-test definitions because earnings among workers in predominantly-exempt occupations are relatively stable regardless of exactly how strictly "passing the duties test" is defined.

How the Kantor Test works

  1. The FLSA white-collar exemptions have two parts: a salary test (earning above a threshold) and a duties test (performing executive, administrative, or professional duties).
  2. In 1958, DOL economist Harry Kantor found that roughly 10% of workers who passed the duties test earned below the then-current salary threshold — and concluded this was acceptable because the salary threshold was meant to be a "bright line" proxy for exempt status, not to substitute entirely for the duties analysis.
  3. As the salary threshold rises, more workers who would otherwise pass the duties test fall below it. The Kantor 10% benchmark tracks how much of the work the salary test is doing relative to the duties analysis.
  4. The duties-test threshold selector lets you vary the definition of "passing the duties test." Because workers in occupations with any meaningful share of exempt tasks tend to earn similarly, the Kantor exclusion rate is not very sensitive to this choice.