Wage and hour laws are laws that govern the wages rates an employer can pay its employees and the hours for which an employer must compensate its employees. The most well-known wage and hour laws are minimum wage laws and overtime laws. They also include child labor laws and meal and break laws. For purposes of this site, we have also included vacation leave, sick leave, holiday leave, jury duty leave, and severance laws with the summaries of other state wage and hour laws, although those laws also fall into the category of Fringe Benefits.
Federal Wage and Hour Laws
Federal wage and hour laws are found mainly in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For information about federal wage and hour laws and the FLSA, click here.
State Wage and Hour Laws
Each state determines which wage and hour laws it will adopt. Some states have adopted few wage and hour laws deferring instead to the FLSA. Others have more extensive wage and hour laws regulating the relationship between employers and employees beyond that of federal law.
State Minimum Wage and Overtime Summaries
Conflicts between Federal and State Wage and Hour Laws
An employer must comply with both federal and state wage and hour laws. If the relevant state wage and hour law conflicts with the federal wage and hour laws, the employer must apply the law that provides the greatest benefit to the employees.
Below are links to summaries of state wage and hour laws: