Labor laws by state.

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour for most employees.

Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate employers are legally obligated to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips.

The federal tipped minimum wage is $2.13 per hour. This can be combined with tips to make up the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, often referred to as a tip credit.

If an employee's wage with tips falls below the full minimum wage, employers are required to make up the difference.

The FLSA is the federal law that governs overtime pay. It requires employers to pay nonexempt employees at least 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Exceptions

Some employees are exempt from overtime pay under federal law. These include the following categories of workers:

• Certain employee roles in exempt executive, administrative, and professional roles may not be eligible for overtime
• Certain outside sales reps
• Certain computer employees
• Highly compensated employees

The FLSA does not require meal or rest breaks. However, if an FLSA-covered employer chooses to offer short breaks (usually between 5 and 20 minutes in length), federal law requires that they be paid. Longer meal breaks of 30 minutes or more are typically unpaid and do not count as time worked.

Vacation leave

Federal law does not require private employers to provide paid or unpaid vacation leave. If an employer wants to offer it, it is the employer's choice and would be governed by the employer's policies or the employment contract.

Sick leave

The FLSA does not require employers to offer paid sick leave to their employees. However, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) applies to companies with 50 or more employees and provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to covered employees. FMLA leave may be used for a variety of purposes, including the birth, adoption, or placement for foster care of a child, an employee's or an immediate family member's serious health condition, and certain military-related reasons.

Holidays

The FLSA does not require private employers to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave. If an employer wants to offer it, it is up to the individual employer and would be governed by the company's policy or the employee's contract.

The FLSA's child labor provisions restrict the types of work and hours of work of minors under the age of 18. A summary of key federal child labor laws follows.

Minors under 14

Minors under 14 are only allowed to do the following jobs:

• Newspaper delivery
• Babysitter on a casual basis
• Actor in movies, TV, radio or theater
• Homeworker gathering evergreens or making evergreen wreaths
• Work for a business owned entirely by their parents (but not a hazardous occupation)

Minors 14-15 years of age

Minors 14-15 can only work outside school hours in non-manufacturing and non-hazardous jobs. Federal law states that these minors cannot work:

• More than 3 hours on a school day, including Friday;
• More than 18 hours per week when school is in session;
• More than 8 hours per day when school is not in session;
• More than 40 hours per week when school is not in session; and
• Before 7:00 AM or after 7:00 PM on any day, except from June 1 through Labor Day, when nighttime work hours are extended to 9:00 PM.

Minors 16-17 years of age

Minors 16-17 may work in any job that has not been declared hazardous by the federal Secretary of Labor. They can also be employed for unlimited hours, provided they are paid appropriate minimum wage and overtime.

Federal law permits employers to pay employees who are under 20 years of age $4.25 per hour during their first consecutive 90 calendar days of working.

Hiring

As of 2024, there is no federal pay transparency law or ban the box law for private employers. Federal agencies and contractors are required to comply with the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019, which disallows employers from asking about a job applicant's criminal history until after a conditional job offer has been extended.

Firing

Federal law allows at-will employment for private employers. This means that employers and employees can end the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, without notice. However, employers may not terminate employment for an unlawful reason, including but not limited to discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, age, gender, or genetic information; retaliation for reporting illegal or unsafe work practices; or refusing to conduct illegal activities.