Salary laws in Texas are a mix of federal and state rules: the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the minimum wage, the overtime rate, and which salaried jobs are exempt from overtime, while the Texas Payday Law controls when you must be paid, what can be deducted, and how quickly you get a final paycheck after separation. Knowing which layer governs which question is what keeps a salaried worker from losing unpaid overtime, absorbing improper deductions, or waiting weeks for a last paycheck with no clear remedy.
The Minimum Wage Floor
Texas Labor Code Section 62.051 ties the state minimum wage to the federal rate under the FLSA.1State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 62.051 – Minimum Wage The federal rate has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, so that is the Texas rate too.2Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Minimum Wage Law If Congress raises the federal number, Texas moves with it automatically.
Tipped workers can be paid a cash wage of $2.13 per hour if their tips make up the difference to at least $7.25. If tips fall short in any workweek, the employer has to cover the gap.3U.S. Department of Labor. Tips The tip credit applies to employees who regularly earn more than $20 per month in tips.4U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
Overtime and Who Counts as Exempt
Texas follows federal overtime rules. If you are non-exempt, your employer owes you one and a half times your regular rate for every hour beyond 40 in a workweek, whether you are paid hourly or on a salary.5U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay Being paid a salary is not, by itself, what makes someone exempt. Two tests have to be met: a pay level and a job-duties analysis.
The Salary Threshold
To be exempt, you have to earn at least $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, on a salary basis. The Department of Labor issued a rule in 2024 that would have raised that number, but a federal district court in Texas vacated it before it took effect. The $684 figure from the 2019 regulation is what applies. A separate “highly compensated employee” exemption covers workers earning at least $107,432 per year and uses a lighter duties test.6U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption From Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Under the FLSA
The Duties Tests
Salary alone is not enough. Your actual work has to fit one of the following categories:
- Executive: you manage a recognized department or the business, regularly direct at least two full-time employees or the equivalent, and have real authority over hiring and firing.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17B – Exemption for Executive Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Administrative: your primary work is office or non-manual work directly related to management or general business operations, and you regularly use independent judgment on matters of significance.8eCFR. 29 CFR 541.200 – General Rule for Administrative Employees
- Professional: your role requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, typically gained through prolonged specialized study. Lawyers, doctors, and engineers are the common examples.9eCFR. 29 CFR Part 541 – Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees
A “manager” title does not carry the exemption if the person spends most of the day doing the same work as the people they supervise. Misclassification is a common Texas wage violation, and it creates back-pay liability for every unpaid overtime hour going back two years, or three years if the violation was willful.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor
How Often You Have to Be Paid
The Texas Payday Law sets pay-frequency minimums based on exemption status. Exempt employees have to be paid at least once per month. Non-exempt employees have to be paid at least twice per month.11State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.011 – Paydays Employers must post notices in the workplace showing designated paydays.12State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.012 – Designation of Paydays
Wages can be paid in U.S. currency, by check, or by electronic funds transfer. An employer switching to direct deposit has to give affected employees at least 60 days’ written notice before the change begins, and an employee cannot be forced onto a payment method without proper authorization.
Your Earnings Statement
Texas requires an employer to give you a written earnings statement at the end of each pay period. It must show your name, rate of pay, total earnings for the period, every deduction and its purpose, net pay, and total hours worked (for hourly employees) or units produced (for piece-rate work). It can be a separate document or printed on the check voucher.
What Your Employer Can Deduct
Texas Labor Code Section 61.018 limits paycheck deductions to three categories: a court order such as child support garnishment, a state or federal legal requirement such as tax withholding, or a written authorization you signed for a specific, lawful purpose.13State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.018 – Deduction From Wages Without your written consent, your employer cannot dock you for broken equipment, cash register shortages, or uniforms.
Even with consent, federal law adds a floor. Deductions for items that primarily benefit the employer, such as uniforms, tools, or required equipment, cannot push your effective pay below $7.25 per hour or eat into overtime you already earned. That rule applies per workweek, so spreading a deduction across pay periods does not fix a week that would otherwise drop below the minimum.14U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 16 – Deductions From Wages for Uniforms and Other Facilities Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Your Final Paycheck
Texas Labor Code Section 61.014 sets firm deadlines when employment ends. If you are fired, laid off, or otherwise involuntarily separated, the employer has six calendar days to pay you in full.15State of Texas. Texas Code Labor Code 61.014 – Payment After Termination of Employment If you quit or resign, the deadline is the next regularly scheduled payday.16Texas Workforce Commission. Final Pay
The six-day clock for involuntary separation runs from the date of discharge, not the date you return company property or finish an exit process. Payment usually comes through the same method used during employment, though the employer can mail a check by registered mail if that is the established arrangement.
Vacation and PTO at Separation
Texas has no law requiring an employer to pay out unused vacation or PTO when you leave. Whether you get a payout depends on whether the employer has a written policy or agreement promising one. If the handbook says accrued vacation is paid out at separation, that promise is enforceable under the Payday Law. If the handbook is silent or says “use it or lose it,” the employer owes nothing.17Texas Workforce Commission. Accrued Leave Payouts Reading the PTO policy before you resign is worth the time; timing your last day can be the difference between getting paid for banked days and forfeiting them.
What Counts as Paid Work Time
For non-exempt salaried workers, whether an hour counts as “hours worked” affects overtime. Federal law does not require breaks, but if an employer provides short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, those are paid. Meal periods of 30 minutes or more are unpaid only if you are completely relieved of duties; eating at your desk while answering the phone makes the meal compensable.18U.S. Department of Labor. Breaks and Meal Periods Texas adds no state-level break rules.
A normal commute is not paid. Travel between job sites during the workday is. Mandatory training during work hours is paid; a voluntary evening class unrelated to your current work generally is not.
Filing a Wage Claim
If your employer fails to pay what you are owed, you have two paths.
Texas Workforce Commission
A wage claim can be filed with the TWC online, by mail, by fax, or in person at a local TWC office. It must be filed within 180 days of the date the wages were originally due. TWC notifies the employer, gives them 14 calendar days to respond, and issues a Preliminary Wage Determination Order after an investigation. Either side has 21 calendar days to appeal in writing.19Texas Workforce Commission. Wage Claim and Appeal Process in Texas
If TWC finds wages are owed, it does not pay you from state funds; it collects from the employer and forwards the money. TWC can also require the employer to post a bond securing future wage payments for up to three years and can assess administrative penalties.20Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law
Federal FLSA Claim
For overtime and minimum wage violations, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division or bring a private lawsuit. The statute of limitations is two years from the violation, or three years if the violation was willful.10U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor Courts typically award liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages in a successful FLSA suit, doubling the recovery unless the employer proves it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to believe it was complying.
Because Texas does not give employees a right to inspect their own personnel files, keeping your own contemporaneous records (screenshots of time entries, notes of hours worked, pay stubs) is the strongest foundation for either kind of claim.