For workplace safety and health, please call 800-321-6742; for mine safety and health, please call 800-746-1553; for Job Corps, please call 800-733-5627 and for Wage and Hour, please call 1-866-487-9243 (1 866-4-US-WAGE). This website is currently not being updated due to the suspension of Federal government services. The last update to the site was 10/1/2025. Updates to the site will start again when the Federal government resumes operations.
Unless specifically exempt, employers must pay their employees overtime pay of not less than 1.5 times the employees’ regular rate of pay after 40 hours of work in a seven-day workweek.
You must pay employees for all hours worked in a workweek. In general, “hours worked” includes all time an employee must be on duty, or at the place of work. Normally, time spent in training, traveling from site to site during the day, and doing repair work must be paid.
Employees generally have the right to be paid at least the federal minimum wage ($7.25) for all hours worked regardless of whether they are paid by the hour, the day, or at a piece rate. Some state laws and local laws provide greater employee protections; employees are entitled to the highest of the local, state, or federal minimum wage that applies to them.
Unless exempt, employees have a right to be paid the minimum wage and overtime regardless of their immigration status.
We are committed to helping you understand your responsibilities as an employer. Many questions about pay may be answered by using the following elaws (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) Advisors:
For additional assistance, please contact:
All discussions with us are free and confidential.
The elaws (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) Advisors are a set of online tools developed by the U.S. Department of Labor to help employees and employers understand their rights and responsibilities under federal employment laws.
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