The minimum wage in Louisiana is $7.25 per hour. Louisiana has never passed its own minimum wage law, so the federal rate set by the Fair Labor Standards Act applies by default across the state.1U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws That $7.25 figure has held since July 2009. Any increase would require Congress to raise the federal floor or the Louisiana legislature to pass a state wage law.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 206 – Minimum Wage
Overtime After 40 Hours
If you’re a non-exempt worker, every hour past 40 in a single workweek has to be paid at one and a half times your regular rate.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 207 – Maximum Hours At the $7.25 floor, overtime comes to $10.88 an hour. Your employer owes you for all hours it knows about or lets you work, even hours you put in without advance approval.
Tipped Workers
If you regularly make more than $30 a month in tips, your employer can pay a direct cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and count your tips toward the remaining $5.12 needed to reach $7.25. This is called the tip credit.4eCFR. 29 CFR Part 531 Subpart D – Tipped Employees If your tips plus the $2.13 base don’t add up to at least $7.25 for every hour you worked, the employer has to make up the shortfall.
Before using the tip credit at all, your employer must explain it to you and let you keep your own tips, except where a valid tip pool applies. The business also has to keep accurate records of the tips you report, since those records are what justify paying under $7.25 in cash wages.
Lower Rates for Young and Student Workers
Federal law lets a few narrow categories of workers be paid below $7.25:
- Workers under 20 can be paid $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with an employer. After that window closes, or when the worker turns 20, the $7.25 rate takes over.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act
- Full-time students in retail, service, agriculture, or higher-education jobs can be paid 85 percent of minimum wage, about $6.16 per hour, if the employer holds a Department of Labor certificate.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Wages for Youth
- High school students aged 16 or older enrolled in a vocational education program can be paid 75 percent of minimum wage, about $5.44 per hour, again with a certificate.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Wages for Youth
Employers aren’t allowed to use the youth wage to push out existing staff. Hiring a 19-year-old at $4.25 to take the place of an adult earning $7.25 violates the rule.
Deductions Can’t Drop Your Pay Below $7.25
Employers can take payroll deductions for things like uniforms, tools, broken equipment, or cash register shortages, but no deduction can push your effective hourly pay under $7.25.7U.S. Department of Labor. Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act If you already earn the minimum, your employer can’t deduct anything for those items. They have to absorb the cost as a business expense.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #16: Deductions From Wages for Uniforms and Other Facilities Under the FLSA If you earn above $7.25, deductions can be spread across pay periods, but no single paycheck can fall below minimum wage or cut into overtime after the deduction.
No City in Louisiana Can Raise the Rate
Some states let cities set their own higher minimums. Louisiana doesn’t. State law specifically prohibits any parish, city, or municipality, including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, from requiring private employers to pay more than the state-level standard.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:642 – Setting Minimum Wage or Employee Benefits; Prohibited The same ban covers mandatory sick leave and vacation. For workers in higher-cost parts of the state, a change has to come from Baton Rouge or Washington.
If You’re Paid as a 1099 Contractor
Minimum wage and overtime only cover employees, not independent contractors. Some employers label workers as contractors to sidestep those rules. If you get a 1099 but your boss sets your schedule, provides the equipment, and dictates how you do the job, you may actually be an employee under federal law.
The Department of Labor uses an “economic reality” test that weighs several factors together: your chance for profit or loss, how permanent the relationship is, how much control the employer has, and more. No one factor controls the outcome.10Federal Register. Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the Fair Labor Standards Act If you think you’ve been misclassified, you can file the same wage complaint any employee would.
What to Do If You’re Underpaid
Louisiana has no state agency for minimum wage disputes. You file with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, by phone, online, or in person at a regional office.11U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint Complaints are confidential; your employer isn’t told who filed.
Gather what you have before filing: pay stubs, time records, direct deposit statements, and any texts or emails about your pay rate. If the investigation confirms underpayment, the Department will pursue back pay for the gap between what you got and what you were owed.
Don’t wait. Federal law gives you two years to recover unpaid wages. If the violation was willful, meaning the employer knew the rule and ignored it, you get three.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 255 – Statute of Limitations
What You Can Recover
A successful FLSA claim can bring back all unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, which effectively doubles what you were owed. If you sue privately and win, you can also recover attorney’s fees and court costs.13U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor – Enforcement Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Employers who repeatedly or deliberately underpay also face civil fines, and the most serious willful violations can bring criminal prosecution with fines up to $10,000.