Delaware Labor Laws

In the US, the  Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) manages the time spent by employees in the workplace, safeguarding their rights and guaranteeing fair pay for their efforts. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Delaware labor laws offer increased minimum wage and break protections to employees in the state, as compared to the FLSA. An overview of these provisions is as follows:

Employers who contravene state time management laws face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. Workers who feel their employer has violated federal time management laws can file complaints with the Delaware Department of Labor Office of Wage and Hour for investigation and legal action.

Discrimination based on protected characteristics, as outlined in the Delaware Discrimination in Employment Act, is not allowed during the hiring process. Protected characteristics include, but are not limited to: 

Employers are required to make appropriate accommodations at the workplace for disabled and pregnant employees. Moreover, employees working in Delaware cannot be paid different wages for the same amount of work only because of gender

Delaware operates under an employment-at-will policy, meaning employers and employees may terminate an employment contract for any reason, at any time without notice. However, employees cannot be terminated due to discrimination, employer retaliation, or under breach of good faith and dealing.

Under the Delaware Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), private employers with 100 or more employees are required to give a 60-day written notice to workers before plant closure, mass layoff, or site relocation. This notice must also be sent to the Delaware Department of Labor Division of Employment Training, WARN Act Administrator, and the Delaware Workforce Development Board local to the employer.   

After termination of employment, an employee must be paid their final wages by the employee’s next regularly scheduled payday or within three business days from the employee’s last working day. 

Some key labor laws that regulate employment relations in Delaware include: 

• Workplace Safety Laws: The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) provides workplace safety regulations for private employers in Delaware. Following OSHA guidelines, Delaware’s Office of Safety and Health Consultation offers free inspections for small and medium-sized businesses in the state, including reviews of job safety programs and identification of workplace hazards as well as training programs to implement recommendations for corrective action.
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: Delaware’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating against employees who report a violation of law or regulation to their supervisor or a public body in writing or verbally. This protection also applies to employees who participate in a public body investigation or hearing related to a workplace violation, report noncompliance or infractions to their supervisor or a public body, or refuse to participate in unlawful activities on the job. However, if an employee knowingly makes a false report, they are not protected by this law.
• Background Check Laws: The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) requires thorough background checks for employment in the health and caregiving sectors. These checks may include fingerprinting and obtaining criminal history records from the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) databases.
• Drug and Alcohol Testing Laws: Delaware laws allow employers to request drug and alcohol testing at their own discretion. Mandatory drug tests are only required for certain employees, including school bus drivers and healthcare workers. 
• Social Media Laws: Employers in Delaware are prohibited from requesting an employee’s social media login credentials and accessing their accounts. Additionally, an employer cannot consider the contents of an employee’s social media account as a factor for employment or manipulate its settings to allow third-party access. However, exceptions can be made if an employee is under investigation for misconduct, the account or device is used for business purposes, or the employer owns the network used to access the social media account.
• Employee Communications Monitoring Law: It is prohibited for an employer in Delaware to intercept or monitor their employees’ phone calls, Internet traffic, or electronic correspondences without adhering to certain conditions. These conditions include providing a daily notice whenever employees access the network or use electronic and phone services, as well as giving a one-time notice in writing notifying the employee of the monitoring. 
• Sexual Harassment Training Laws: Delaware’s Code of Employment Practices mandates that employers with 50 or more employees must conduct sexual harassment prevention training within the first year of hiring for each employee. Subsequently, all employees should receive this training every two years.
• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: Delaware adheres to the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which allows for the continuation of health coverage for employees who lose their jobs with no fault of their own. However, COBRA applies solely to companies with 20 or more employees. For small businesses with less than 20 workers, Delaware’s Mini-COBRA allows former employees to maintain their health coverage through their employers for 9 months, even after termination.
• Recordkeeping Laws: Employers in Delaware are required to maintain all records of employment for a minimum of three years. These records should include the employee’s credentials, their pay, daily and weekly work hours, payment schedules, and methods.

A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration an employee must receive for work performed within a certain time. This amount cannot be further reduced by collective bargaining or mutual agreement between an employer and employee. 

The minimum wage in Delaware has been updated to $15.00 per hour as of January 1, 2025. 

Any employee who earns more than $30 monthly in tips from customers is categorized as a tipped employee in Delaware. 

Employers can pay tipped employees in Delaware a reduced cash wage of $2.23 per hour, withholding a tip credit of $12.77. If required, tipped employees can pool up to 15% of their tips with other tipped workers.

Employers need to ensure that a tipped employee’s hourly wages meet state minimum wage requirements. If not, the employer is required to make up the difference. 

Certain occupations are exempt from receiving minimum wage in Delaware, including workers employed in:

• Agriculture
• The United States government
• Executive, administrative, and professional roles
• Non-profit, educational, or religious organizations
• Domestic service
• Non-profit summer camp programs
• Department of Correction programs
• Outside commission-paid sales
• Fishing and fish processing
• Non-profit summer camp programs

Employers in Delaware must pay their employees at least once per month on designated paydays. These payments should occur within seven days after the end of the pay period in which the wages were earned. 

Additionally, if a payday occurs on a day off, wages should be paid on the business day preceding the scheduled payday. Employees must be informed in writing of any changes to their wages or payment schedules.

Delaware’s overtime laws adhere to the FLSA. Any hours worked beyond 40 in a week are considered overtime. Employees who work overtime are entitled to earn additional wages calculated at 1.5 times their regular hourly wage for all hours worked over 40.  

For comprehensive information on your rights to overtime pay, refer to our article what are my overtime rights in Delaware?

In Delaware, employees earning at least $1,128 per week or $58,656 per year are exempt from receiving overtime pay. This generally includes employees engaged in executive, administrative, and professional jobs as well as outside salespersons and computer employees earning at least $27.63 hourly. 

Other occupations exempt from overtime pay under the FLSA include:

• Highly compensated employees earning at least $151,164 annually
• Employees of recreational and amusement establishments
• Workers involved in farm-produce transportation
• Domestic employees residing with their employers
• Casual babysitters
• Railroad and air carrier employees
• Workers in sugar processing
• Seamen on foreign ships
• Newspaper carriers and employees of small newspaper firms
• Fishermen
• Caregivers for the elderly

Learn more in detail about Delaware salaried employees laws.

Delaware break laws mandate employers to offer employees an unpaid half-hour meal break for every 7.5 hours of daily work. This break should be given after the first 2 hours and before the final 2 hours of work. 

Generally, employees must be completely relieved of all job duties during breaks. If they are required to work during the break, they must be appropriately compensated.

However, there are certain exceptions. Meal breaks may not be allowed for employees if:

• Only one worker is performing a job
• There are less than five employees on shift
• The break interrupts the employee’s urgent job duties 
• The break poses harm to public safety

In such circumstances, the employee should be allowed to eat at their workstation and use the restroom as required, with the meal break considered compensated time.  

Under the FLSA, nursing employees in Delaware are entitled to reasonably timed breaks for one year after the birth of a child to express milk at the workplace. Employers must provide a designated private nursing room (that is not a bathroom), free from intrusion for nursing employees to express milk.  

Note that breastfeeding breaks are not paid. However, employees can choose to express milk during paid breaks. 

Unlike the FLSA, Delaware laws place no time limit on breastfeeding breaks after the birth of a child, allowing them to be taken for an unlimited duration.

Delaware leave laws require employers to provide the following leave benefits to employees in the state: 

• Jury Duty Leave: All employees in Delaware have the right to take unpaid leave to attend jury service. An employer cannot threaten, punish, or penalize an employee for taking jury leave. Furthermore, any employee found guilty of violating this policy can be fined up to $500, imprisoned for six months, or both. 
• Emergency Response Leave: Employers with ten or more employees are required to give 14 days of leave to employees who are volunteer emergency responders in Governor or President-declared emergencies under the Delaware Volunteer Emergency Responders Job Protection Act. Employees can take leave to recover from injuries sustained due to emergency response duties. 
• Parental Leave: Under the Healthy Delaware Families Act (HDFA), enacted in 2022, private employees in Delaware are entitled to paid leave benefits from January 1, 2026. Only employers with 24 or fewer employees need to provide paid parental leave; larger employers must provide all paid benefits required by the Act. Eligible employees must work at least 60% of their work hours physically in Delaware, with a total of 1,250 hours worked in a 12-month period.

The following is an overview of public holidays that will be observed in Delaware for the year 2025: 

Any individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor in Delaware and is protected by the child labor laws of the state. The minimum age of employment in Delaware is 14.

Work Permits for Minors in Delaware

Employers in Delaware are required to secure a work permit for each minor they employ under the age of 18. A new work permit should be obtained each time the minor changes employment.

Work hour restrictions for minors in Delaware are as follows:

For Minors Aged 14 and 15

• They cannot work more than six days weekly. 
• Work hours can only be scheduled outside school hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Work can be extended till 9 p.m. from June 1st till Labor Day.
• They cannot work more than four hours on a school day and eight hours on non-school days (i.e. weekends).
• Weekly work hours cannot exceed 18 when school is in session.
• During summer break, they can work up to 40 hours per week. 

For Minors aged 16 and 17

• They cannot be scheduled to work more than 12 hours daily, with school and work hours combined.
• They must be given an uninterrupted eight-hour break from work and school activities within a 24-hour period.

Breaks for Minors in Delaware

Minors in Delaware must be provided a 30-minute break after five hours of consecutive work. These breaks must be provided to minors of all ages.

Delaware’s child labor laws, similar to the FLSA, prohibit minors from working in certain occupations deemed hazardous or unsuitable for their age. Some of these include: