South Dakota Labor Laws

In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes rules to manage employees’ time in the workplace, safeguard their rights, and guarantee fair pay for their efforts. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

South Dakota has its own minimum wage and overtime regulations which are briefly outlined as follows:

Employers who do not comply with state labor and time management laws can face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. Workers who believe their employer has violated their rights can file a complaint with the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation for investigation and legal action.

During the hiring process, the South Dakota Human Relations Act prohibits employers from discriminating against job applicants based on protected characteristics like:

Additionally, employees working in South Dakota cannot be denied job promotions, labor union membership, retaliated against, or terminated based on these characteristics. 

Employment contracts in South Dakota are governed by the ‘at-will employment’ policy. This means employers and employees can end an employment contract at any time and for any reason without legal ramifications. Exceptions to the rule exist if an employee’s contract outlines a specific termination process. Furthermore, employers cannot fire an employee due to discriminatory or retaliatory reasons, or in violation of public policy.

After termination or resignation, an employee’s final wages must be paid by their next regularly scheduled payday. However, this payment can be delayed if the employee has not yet returned any property belonging to the employer. In such cases, the final payment is made as soon as the property is returned. 

Some key regulations that affect employment policies in South Dakota include:

• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: The federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) allows eligible workers and their dependents to retain their group health benefits for 18 to 36 months after voluntary or involuntary job loss. However, the federal COBRA applies only to businesses with 20 or more employees. For employees working in businesses with 20 or fewer employees, South Dakota’s Mini-Cobra allows workers and their dependents to continue their health insurance for up to 18 months.
• Workplace Safety Laws: In South Dakota, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), ensures that all workers operate in safe settings free of hazards. The Act also requires employers to provide training to workers to improve workplace safety, support research for innovation in occupational safety and health, and identify connections between work conditions and employee health. Note that the federal OSHA Act only covers private-sector employers and employees in South Dakota. 
• Second Chance Law: SB 57, enacted on February 7, 2024, establishes improved guidelines for hiring applicants with conviction histories in South Dakota. Employers cannot retaliate against applicants with criminal histories that have been sealed, expunged, or pardoned. However, if the applicant’s criminal history is directly relevant to the job or poses a potential safety risk, employers may request disclosure of the information or decline to offer employment.
• Recordkeeping Laws: Employers in South Dakota are required to maintain personnel records, including their employees’ identification information, job classification, salary, performance appraisals, leave donations, health or retirement benefits, and competitive examination materials. These records must be easily accessible for review by a supervisor. A copy of these records can also be requested by an employee.

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

The minimum wage in South Dakota is adjusted annually following increases measured in the US Consumer Price Index. Beginning January 1, 2025, the state has increased its minimum wage to $11.50 per hour for all employees.

In South Dakota, an employee who regularly earns more than $35 in tips every month is classified as a tipped employee. 

Employers in South Dakota can take tip credit, allowing them to pay tipped employees a reduced hourly wage while retaining 50% of the applicable wage as a tip credit. As of January 1, 2025, tipped employees earning minimum wage must receive at least $5.75 per hour in cash.

However, a tipped employee’s hourly cash wage and tips must equal the state’s minimum wage. If not, the employer is required to make up the difference.

Certain occupations in South Dakota are exempt from receiving minimum wage, including:

• Employees working in seasonal amusement or recreational establishments
• Executive, administrative, and professional employees who earn at least $1,128 weekly
• Outside salespersons
• Babysitters
• Youth employees earning a training wage for the first 90 days of employment
• Apprentices
• Workers with disabilities

Employers in South Dakota are mandated to pay an employee’s wages at least once a month on regularly scheduled paydays unless stated otherwise in an employee’s contract. Wages can be paid by cash, direct deposit to an employee’s account, check or any other method agreed upon by an employer and employee.

South Dakota’s overtime laws strictly adhere to the FLSA. Any employee who works more than 40 hours in a standard work week can earn overtime pay calculated at 1.5 times their regular hourly wage. 

For minimum wage workers in the state, this amount currently stands at $17.25 for each hour worked as overtime. Learn more about your overtime rights in South Dakota with our detailed guide. 

Following the FLSA’s update on January 1, 2025, any employee who earns at least  $1,128 weekly (or $58,656 annually) is classified as ‘exempt’  i.e. they are not eligible for overtime pay. Typically, employees working as executives, administrators, and professionals are included in this category.

Additionally, the following occupations are also considered exempt in South Dakota:

• Highly compensated employees earning at least $151,164 annually
• Computer employees earning at least $27.63 per hour
• Outside salespersons
• Aircraft, boat, truck, and trailer salespersons
• Airline workers
• Domestic employees residing with their employer
• Fishermen
• Seamen on American and non-American vessels
• Taxi drivers
• Local delivery drivers and their helpers
• Workers transporting fruit and vegetables
• Federal investigators
• Workers taking care of the elderly

South Dakota’s break laws do not indicate specific provisions for meal or rest breaks. Employers covered by the FLSA are also not mandated to provide these breaks to employees. 

However, employers can choose to offer such breaks at their discretion. If so, they must abide by the general break guidelines of the FLSA. 

Rest breaks that last 20 minutes or less are paid. Any break that lasts for 30 minutes or longer, including meal breaks, is unpaid unless the employee is expected to work during the break.

South Dakota’s Lactation in the Workplace Policy requires employers to allow a reasonable amount of time for a nursing employee to express milk or breastfeed in the workplace. 

Nursing employees must be provided a separate, private room that is not a toilet for expressing milk. This room must be free from intrusion and should include comfortable seating, a power outlet, hand washing facilities, and an adequate countertop to place pumping equipment.  

Employees can use their scheduled lunch and rest breaks (if any) for this purpose. Work schedules may also be adjusted to accommodate extra breaks.

Employees in South Dakota are entitled to the following leave benefits:

• Vacation Leave: All permanent employees in South Dakota are entitled to paid vacation leave. Leave accrual begins on the first day of employment and continues to accrue on either an hourly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly basis.  Employees with less than 15 years of service can accrue up to 10 hours of paid vacation leave per month, whereas those with more than 15 years of service can accrue up to 13.334 hours of vacation leave in a month. Any accrued vacation leave must be paid out once a worker’s employment ends. 
• Family and Medical Leave: Employees in South Dakota are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must have worked for their employer for at least a year, for a minimum of 1,250 hours at a location with at least 50 employed workers within 75 miles. Employees can use leave under the FMLA to care for themselves or a sick family member, bond with a newborn, or tend to their household while a family member is on military duty. An employee may take up to 14 additional weeks of leave to care for a severely injured or ill servicemember who qualifies as their dependent.
• Jury Leave: Jury leave in South Dakota is job-protected, meaning employers cannot retaliate against or terminate employees for serving on a jury. Whether this leave is paid or not is at the discretion of the employer. 
• Voting Leave: Eligible employees in South Dakota are entitled to two hours of voting leave if they do not have at least two hours before or after their shift to vote while polls are open. Employees cannot be penalized or be subject to wage deductions for taking voting leave. However, employers can specify when employees are permitted to take leave on election day.
• Military Leave: In South Dakota, employees serving in the National Guard or military reserve can use up to 40 hours of accrued sick leave for military service. Eligible employees can also take up to 15 days of leave for military training. Temporary workers and employees on vacation leave cannot take military training leave. 
• Sick Leave: Full-time employees in South Dakota can accumulate 9.334 hours of paid sick leave every month which can be used to care for their own or a dependent’s illness. Employees can also use five days of sick leave for bereavement after the death of an immediate family member. Workers apart from full-time employees accrue paid sick leave proportionate to the number of hours worked in a pay period.

Learn more about leave laws in South Dakota.

The following is an overview of the public holidays that will be observed in South Dakota in 2025. 

Note that if an official holiday falls on a Saturday, the preceding Friday is counted as a holiday instead. Similarly, if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, it is observed the following Monday. 

In South Dakota, an individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor and is protected by the child labor protections of the state. 

Work Permits for Minors in South Dakota

Work permits are only required for minors in South Dakota if their age prohibits them from a certain occupation or employment altogether but they need to work due to financial hardship.

These permits are issued by the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation and authorize the minor’s work hours.

Youth employment laws in South Dakota outline the following work-hour regulations for minor employment in the state.

• For Minors Younger than 16: Work hours may not exceed four per day and 20 per week when school is in session. Furthermore, minors aged 14 and 15 cannot be scheduled to work after 10 p.m. Those younger than 14 cannot work during school hours or after 7 p.m. During summer break, work hours can be increased to eight daily, with a weekly maximum of 40. 
• For Minors Aged 16 and 17: No work-hour limitations exist as long as the minor is employed in an occupation that has not been declared dangerous by law.

Minors in South Dakota cannot be employed in the following occupations: