Financial Services & Accounting Firms: State Payroll Compliance Issues (2026)

Where state law touches financial services firms specifically

Financial services employees generally meet the administrative exemption duties test when their work includes collecting and analyzing a customer's income, assets, investments or debts, determining which financial products fit, and advising on their advantages and disadvantages. An employee whose primary duty is selling financial products does not qualify for the administrative exemption.

To be exempt as executive, administrative or professional employees, workers must be paid on a salary basis of at least $684 per week, equal to $35,568 per year. The highly compensated employee threshold is $107,432 per year, including at least $684 per week paid on a salary or fee basis.

For non-exempt staff paid by commission, salary or other basis, overtime must be computed on the average hourly rate found by dividing total pay for the workweek by total hours actually worked. The regular rate includes all remuneration except statutory exclusions such as discretionary bonuses and gifts.

The state layer every employer carries

Each state where an employee of a financial services firm works can set its own minimum wage, its own overtime trigger, a pay-frequency law, a new hire reporting deadline shorter than the federal 20 days, a final paycheck deadline, and a continuation coverage rule below the federal COBRA threshold. The state pages on this site carry those facts state by state from one data file, so the numbers here and on the multi-state checker never disagree.