The Complete List of Overtime Laws by State + Minimum Wage Changes

Overtime laws, regulations, minimum wage increases, mileage rates– not exactly topics of casual conversation. However, each of these concepts is crucial to pay employees.

Understanding overtime legal requirements is crucial to budgeting your payroll as early as possible, so you don’t end up paying more than expected later.

In this post, we detail the core concepts of overtime rules, and provide a comprehensive list of overtime laws by state.

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Complete List: 2023 Overtime Laws by State

In California, meal penalties start at 5 hours for most employees, but there are special provisions for film workers outlined in IWC Article 12, which stipulates 6 hours.

Standard mileage rate increase

Effective January 1st, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service has also increased the standard mileage rate for using a personal vehicle in the course of business to $0.655 (65.5 cents) per mile.

The standard mileage rate is used to calculate the deductive costs of operating an automobile for business. Employees may be entitled to either reimbursement from their employers or personal tax deductions according to the current mileage rate.

Important exceptions 

For those states with no or lower-than-federal minimum wage: Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Wyoming, employers are still subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and must pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

States with minimum wage exceptions, and increases coming this year: 

• D.C.’s minimum wage will increase to $17.00/hr effective July 1st, 2023. *Note, each July the district’s minimum wage increases in proportion to the increase in the Consumer Price Index. 
• Connecticut’s minimum wage will increase to $15.00 effective June 1st, 2023. 
• Nevada permits employers who offer qualifying health insurance to decrease their minimum wage to $9.50/hr. This requirement will increase to $10.25/hr effective July 1st, 2023. For those employers who do not offer qualifying health insurance, the minimum wage will increase to $11.25/hr effective July 1st, 2023.
• Florida's minimum wage will increase to $12.00/hr effective September 30th, 2023. 
• Maryland sets a separate minimum wage for employers with 14 or fewer employees at $12.80/hr. Additionally, Maryland allows employees under 18 years of age to be paid at 85% of the minimum hourly wage rate.
• Minnesota sets a higher minimum wage of $10.59/hr for employers with annual revenues of $500,000 or more. 
• New Jersey’s minimum wage drops to $11.90 for seasonal and small employers (with fewer than 6 employees). 
• New York’s statewide minimum wage applies only in areas not governed by higher, local minimum wage ordinances.
• Oregon’s minimum wage increased to $13.50 but increased to $14.75 for those in the Portland metro area, and $12.50 for non-urban counties.
• Washington state requires the minimum wage noted on the above table, but the City of Seattle sets a higher minimum wage of $18.69/hr for large employers (with 501 or more employees) and $16.50/hr for small employers (with 500 or less employees).
  

States with special break laws:

• Hawaii follows the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), Child Labor Law, which requires employers to provide at least a 30-minute rest or meal period after five consecutive hours of work for fourteen- and fifteen-year-old minors.
• Iowa follows a break law that states minors younger than 16 must be given a 30-minute break if they are employed five hours or more in a day.

What are overtime laws?

Overtime laws (also known as overtime rules) refer to the increased amount of money you have to pay an employee after a set amount of time.

This set amount of time, whether it be on a daily or weekly scale, varies from state to state.

For instance, in California, the initial amount of time an employee must work before receiving overtime pay is only 8 hours. While in Kansas, overtime doesn’t take effect until 46 hours have been worked in a week.

How is overtime pay calculated?

Once your employees have crossed the threshold of their overtime pay law, they then earn “pay and a half.”

Expressed as “1.5x,” this multiplier is applied to the set rate in your employee’s contract. Unless negotiated higher, this rate will be the minimum wage.

SPECIAL CASE: OVERTIME RULES ON A FILM SET

While almost every employee is non-exempt from overtime laws, some guilds have special rules for their employees.

For example, in the world of television and film, minimum rates for most actors are determined by The Screen Actors Guild. So while minimum wage in California may be $15.50, the minimum amount you’ll pay a guild member is higher.

While overtime laws dictate a California employee will make 1.5x after 8 hours, SAG talent only makes that overtime pay after 12 hours.

Meanwhile, unions like IATSE and the Teamsters, abide by separate pay-rate regulations of their own design. The challenge of balancing varying rules and rates is one of many reasons why you should hire a payroll company to run your payroll.

What is the federal overtime law?

Set by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the federal overtime law (or federal OT law) states that employees shall receive overtime pay after 40 hours have been worked in a week. When states don’t have set overtime laws, they automatically default to what is expressed in the chart above.

Wrapping Up

Understanding the nuances of overtime law isn’t just a way to impress your Department of Labor friends. Without knowing the rules in your state, you may end up owing your employees way more than you thought you did.

If you have any questions about overtime laws by state, or you need help determining if your workers’ payments are compliant, reach out to us.