Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis

Helix Energy: A High Daily Rate Is Not a Salary Basis Under the FLSA

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 11, 2026 · Updated October 17, 2026

Decision: Helix Energy Sols. Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, 598 U.S. 39 (2023).

The Supreme Court decided this case on February 22, 2023. Michael Hewitt worked 84-hour weeks on an offshore oil rig and earned more than $200,000 annually. His biweekly pay nevertheless equaled a daily rate multiplied by the number of days worked, with no overtime premium.

High compensation did not eliminate salary basis

The highly compensated employee rule relaxes the duties inquiry but still requires compensation on a salary basis. Earnings above the annual threshold alone do not create the exemption.

A salary is a predetermined weekly amount

The regulation requires an employee to receive a fixed amount for any week in which work is performed without regard to the number of days or hours worked. Hewitt’s pay changed directly with the days he worked.

Daily pay can qualify only through a separate route

Under 29 C.F.R. section 541.604(b), an employer may pair an hourly, daily, or shift rate with a guaranteed weekly amount that bears a reasonable relationship to usual earnings and meets the applicable salary minimum. Helix conceded that Hewitt’s pay did not satisfy that provision.

Duties could not cure the pay defect

Even if Hewitt supervised employees and performed executive functions, the compensation method failed an independent element of the exemption. The Court affirmed judgment under the regulations governing the period at issue.

Key takeaways

• Test salary basis separately from annual compensation and job duties.
• Confirm a predetermined weekly guarantee that does not vary with time worked.
• For daily-rate plans, evaluate the reasonable-relationship regulation.
• Do not assume that a highly compensated worker is automatically overtime-exempt.