Pennsylvania Labor Laws

The US Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) sets the standards for hourly wage rates and overtime pay while requiring employers to maintain accurate records of their employees’ working hours. These laws serve as directives for employers, helping prevent abuse and exploitation across various sectors, including non-profit, public, and private organizations.

Time management laws in Pennsylvania closely adhere to FLSA regulations. Minimum wage, overtime and break provisions for all employees in the state are as follows: 

Overtime exemptions under the FLSA are determined through a three-pronged test that evaluates salary specifics for certain job categories like executives, professionals, and administrative employees. 

Violations of these time management laws may result in fines, penalties, and damages. Workers can file wage complaints with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry to initiate an investigation and legal action.

Employees in Pennsylvania are guaranteed the right to a just hiring process under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act 1955. Job applicants or employees can not be discriminated against based on the following: 

• Race or color
• Religious creed
• Familial status
• National origin
• Ancestry
• Sex
• Age (for individuals aged 40 and above)
• Disability or relations with disabled person/s
• Willingness/refusal to partake in abortion or sterilization
• Having a GED (General Education Development) diploma

Pennsylvania is not a right-to-work state, which means that employees working in Pennsylvania can join unions to negotiate contract clauses that can require all employees to pay union dues.

An employer or employee can terminate an employment contract at any time and for any reason under at-will employment in Pennsylvania. However, the at-will employment policy does not allow for employees to be terminated solely because of discriminatory reasons. For mass layoffs and factory closures, employers must provide a notice of termination 60 days in advance. 

Pennsylvania law requires final paychecks to be paid to employees by their next scheduled payday, regardless of whether the employee resigned or was terminated. For more details, check out our comprehensive guide on Pennsylvania Termination Laws.

The following laws influence employment in Pennsylvania:

• COBRA and Pennsylvania Mini-COBRA Laws: The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows employees and their families to temporarily continue their group health insurance for 18 to 36 months after a qualifying life event that results in the loss of coverage. COBRA applies to most private sector employers with 20 or more employees. Qualifying events include job loss (voluntary or involuntary), reduction in hours, divorce or legal separation, the death of a covered employee, Medicare eligibility for a covered employee, and the loss of health coverage for a dependent or child under the plan. Smaller businesses in Pennsylvania, with 2 to 19 employees, are subject to Pennsylvania Mini-COBRA policies, which allow continued health insurance coverage for up to 9 months.
• Workplace Safety Laws: In the US, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is responsible for regulating and enforcing workplace security standards and practices. OSHA conducts regular inspections of workplaces to ensure that all requirements are being met. At the state level, the General Safety Law sets policies for workplace safety for the protection of all public sector employees except farmhouse and domestic workers. Further, the Bureau of Occupational and Industrial Safety enforces and regulates policies for occupations that include handling lead, asbestos, boilers, construction of buildings, elevators, combustible and flammable liquids, or liquified petroleum gas. 
• Workers’ Compensation Law: Employers and employees in Pennsylvania are guaranteed workplace and public safety with Pennsylvania’s Worker’s Compensation Act, which ensures employees receive medical treatment and financial compensation (covered by the employer) for any injuries sustained at work. The Act also provides employers protection from direct employee lawsuits. Worker’s compensation coverage is obligatory for most employers in Pennsylvania. Coverage starts on the first day of the job and lasts for the entire duration of an employee’s period of employment. Previously sustained injuries or diseases, that are aggravated by the current job, are also included under the same coverage.  
• Whistleblower Protection Laws: Whistleblower Laws in Pennsylvania protect public employees from employer discrimination and retaliation as a result of reporting breaches of federal and state law made in good faith. Furthermore, employers can not fire, threaten, or discriminate against employees who are required by investigative authorities to take part in investigations, inquiries, or hearings. 
• Background Check Laws: State employers in Pennsylvania can not inquire about a job applicant’s criminal history. Employee backgrounds can only be investigated once a conditional employment offer is given. Job applicants with misdemeanor convictions, dating 10 years and older, can keep their criminal records private from background checks. However, Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act allows employers to access a job applicant’s criminal history only if the nature of the crime/s committed affects the applicant’s suitability for the role. The employer must notify the applicant if they are rejected due to their criminal history. 
• Drug and Alcohol Testing Laws: Drug and alcohol testing may be permitted during the pre-employment process in Pennsylvania. Any other instances that require drug/alcohol tests for employees require valid reasoning, legal justification, or union bargaining. Employers must secure approval from Pennsylvania’s OA to carry out these tests. However, it is federally required to perform drug and alcohol testing on employees performing safety-sensitive duties.
• Record-keeping Laws: According to 34 Pa. Code § 63.64, employers are required to keep accurate and complete employment and payroll records for every employee. These records must be maintained at the location of employment or a record-keeping establishment for a minimum of 4 years and must be readily available to authorized personnel for inspection. Daily attendance records should not be maintained for more than 2 years.

The minimum wage in Pennsylvania stands at $7.25 per hour for all employees. 

An employee’s wages may include boarding and lodging costs, given that the employee is provided prior notice of this condition at the time of hiring or job position change. In such cases, the employee’s wages, including these allowances, must equal the state-mandated minimum wage.

The minimum wage for tipped employees in Pennsylvania is $2.83.

A tipped worker in Pennsylvania is defined as an employee who must earn at least $135 in tips per month for their employer to take a tip credit. Employers must ensure that a tipped employee’s base wage and tip credit are equal to at least $7.25 per hour. If not, the employer is required to make up the difference.

Tipped employees are not allowed to spend more than 20% of their working hours doing tasks that do not generate tips.

Minimum wage regulations do not apply to all occupations in Pennsylvania. Exceptions include:

• Learner employees 
• Employees with disabilities
• Student employees 
• Farm laborers
• Domestic service employees working in the home of the employer
• Seasonal employees under the age of 18
• Students, aged 24 or less, employed by welfare or non-profit organizations
• Recreational park, camp, or conference center employees, given that they don’t work for more than 7 months in a year
• Switchboard operators 
• Exempt executive, administrative, or professional employees

State law requires employers to pay an employee’s wages on regular paydays set in advance. Overtime wages are paid in the next pay period from when they are earned. 

An employee’s wages must be paid within a certain number of days after the end of a pay period. If a wage payment duration is not specified in the employee’s contract, wages must be paid within 15 days after the pay period ends. 

Benefits and bonus payments are not included in regular wage payment schedules. 

Certain occupations in Pennsylvania are exempt from earning overtime wages. These include:

• Executive, administrative, or professional employees earning $844 a week
• Computer professionals 
• Outside salesmen
• Seamen
• Salesmen, partsmen, or mechanics involved in selling and servicing vehicles in a nonmanufacturing establishment
• Taxi drivers
• Radio or TV station employees in cities with populations of 100,000 or less (with specific exceptions)
• Workers processing maple sap into sugar or syrup
• Motion picture industry employees
• Motor carrier employees under the regulations of the Federal Department of Transportation
• Air carrier employees with voluntary shift schedules set by collective bargaining 

Learn more in detail about Pennsylvania Salaried Employees Laws and Pennsylvania Overtime Laws.

Employees aged 18 and above are not entitled to meal or rest breaks in Pennsylvania.

However, minors (aged 14 to 17) and seasonal farmworkers must be given rest or meal breaks lasting at least 30 minutes for every 5 or more hours worked consecutively.

The PUMP Act 2022 requires employers to provide reasonable break times for employees to express breast milk for one year after a child’s birth. 

Employees must be provided a private, non-bathroom space to express milk. If adequate facilities for expressing milk at work are unavailable, employees can notify the Bureau of Workforce Support, after which an employer has up to 10 days to comply with state requirements.  

Here is a table of official state holidays observed in Pennsylvania for the year 2025:

Learn more in detail about Pennsylvania Leave Laws. 

According to the Pennsylvania Child Labor Act, any individual under the age of 18 is classified as a minor. 

Minors can not work more than six consecutive days (except for newspaper delivery) and must be provided a 30-minute meal break for every five consecutive hours of work. Working hours for minors in Pennsylvania are as follows:

During School Term:

• Minors aged 14 to 15: A maximum of 3 hours on a school day and 8 hours on non-school days, with a weekly total of 18 hours. Work hours can only be scheduled between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
• Minors aged 16 and over: A maximum of 8 hours per day with a weekly total of 28 hours. Work hours can only be scheduled between 6 a.m. to 12 midnight. 

When School is Not in Session: 

• Minors aged 14 to 15: No more than 8 hours a day with a weekly total of 40 hours. Work hours can not be scheduled before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
• Minors aged 16 and over: No more than 10 hours per day with a weekly total of 48 hours, given that all hours worked beyond 44 are volunteered by the minor. 

The following are some occupations prohibited for minors under the Child Labor Act in Pennsylvania:

• Brickmaker
• Crane operator
• Electrical worker
• Excavator
• Forest firefighter
• Meat processing operator
• Motor vehicle operator/servicer
• Roofer
• Welder
• Occupations in establishments that serve alcoholic beverages
• Acrobatic acts that include high-wire, trapeze, unicycle, and bicycle acts
• Activities that expose minors to dangerous weapons, including pyrotechnical devices
• Activities at high speeds and altitudes
• Sexually abusive acts
• Acts involving animals that weigh more than half of the minor’s weight
• Demolition worker 
• Woodworking, welding

Minors under 16 years of age are specifically prohibited from working:

• In coal dredges
• In freezers, meat coolers or manufacturing
• In tunnels, warehouses or storage locations
• On trucks, railroads and conveyors
• In pattern making shops
• On scaffolding

Read more about Pennsylvania Child Labor Laws.