Delaware Labor Laws

In the US, there are federal laws in place to manage 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.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which dates back to 1938, is a critical federal law for time management, setting hourly wage rates and overtime pay, and requiring employers to keep an accurate record of their employees’ working hours. Overtime is pegged at 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for workers who exceed 40 hours a week. However, certain job categories, including executives, professionals, and administrative employees, are exempt from overtime pay depending on their job description and salary.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is another essential federal law that governs time management in the workplace, entitling eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specific family and medical reasons, such as the birth or adoption of a child or caring for a family member with a serious health condition. This act also requires employers to maintain employees’ health benefits during their leave and restore them to their previous or equivalent positions upon their return to work.

Employers who contravene federal time management laws face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. If workers feel that their employer has violated federal time management laws, they can file complaints with the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for investigation and legal action.

Overall, federal time management laws are instrumental in ensuring that workers are compensated fairly for their time and effort in the workplace, protecting them from abuse and exploitation by employers. The Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act are vital federal laws that govern time management and worker compensation, ensuring fair labor practices across various sectors, including non-profit, public, and private organizations.

Delaware’s hiring laws adhere to the federal regulations that apply nationwide, as outlined in the following section. Delaware (and other comparable states) have a provision that bars employers from discriminating against candidates:

• Biological sex
• Race and national origin
• Age (applies to individuals between 40 and 70 years of age)
• Pregnancy, child or spousal support withholding
• Sexual orientation
• Gender and gender identity
• Religion
• AIDS/HIV status
• Mental and Physical Disability

Delaware operates under an employment-at-will policy, which essentially means that employees who do not have a written contract may be terminated for any reason, without warning. However, it is important to keep in mind that the termination cannot be legally justified in cases involving discrimination or employee retaliation.

According to the Delaware Department of Labor, employers must pay employees their final wages by the next payday, no matter the reason for termination.

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.

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 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.

The following are the required leave types that Delaware employers must provide to their employees:

• Sick Leave – In Delaware, employers are not required by state law to give paid sick leave to their employees. It’s up to companies to decide whether they want to provide benefits that align with their established policies. In some cases, employers may be required to offer paid sick leave when other laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act take precedence.
• Jury Duty Leave – When an employee has been summoned for jury duty, their employer isn’t obligated to pay for their time off. However, the employer can’t give any sort of punishment or penalty to the employee for taking that leave. Furthermore, any payment that the employee receives from the state due to serving on jury duty can’t be considered as wages.
• Emergency Response Leave – Employers aren’t required to give paid leave to volunteer emergency responders, but it’s forbidden for them to punish or discipline their workers for participating in a state of emergency declared by the Governor or sustaining injury from it.
• Organ and Bone Donation Leave – State employees, teachers, and school employees are entitled to up to 30 days of paid leave for organ donation and up to 7 days for bone marrow donation, in accordance with the law. This ensures that these individuals can take time off for medical procedures and recover without having to worry about their job security or financial stability.
• Military Leave – If an employee in Delaware is called up for military service, their employer is legally obligated to approve their leave for the entire duration of their tour, plus an additional 90 days after their tour ends. This is covered by the federal law known as the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which all states in the US comply with. Essentially, this law ensures that employees can safely and reliably return to their jobs after fulfilling their military obligations.

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

There are specific rules and guidelines that must be followed when employing minors. Those under the age of 14 are not allowed to work under any circumstances. Minors under the age of 18 are required to obtain a work permit before they can work. Those aged 16 and 17 may work, but they cannot be employed in hazardous jobs.

The working hours restrictions are as follows:

In order to protect the well-being, safety, and morals of minors, the Delaware Child Labor Law prohibits specific types of employment, such as those involved in:

• Docks, wharves, and marinas that accommodate sale or service of pleasure boats
• Railroads
• Distilleries, or any alcoholic beverage manufacturer
• Manufacturing of dangerous or toxic chemicals
• Occupations requiring handling of electrical wires
• Employment at a telephone or messenger company requiring them to distribute, collect or transmit goods or messages in any town with a population over 20.000 people.