Indiana labor laws combine state statutes with federal rules from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the two layers decide what you earn, when you’re paid, when you can be fired, and what protections you have on the job. Indiana sets its own rules on wage payment timing, union membership, civil rights, workers’ compensation, and youth employment; federal law governs overtime and fills gaps the state leaves open. Several Indiana rules changed on January 1, 2025, particularly for workers under 18, so older summaries can lead you wrong.
What You Earn
Indiana’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, tied by statute to the federal rate.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-2-4 – Wage Deductions, Minimum Wage, Overtime Compensation The state chapter covers employers with two or more employees but excludes businesses already covered by the FLSA, since federal rules apply there instead.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-2-3 – Definitions, Exemptions Federal enterprise coverage kicks in at $500,000 in annual gross sales.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor
If you work for tips, your employer can pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour, but your tips plus that cash wage have to reach $7.25 for every hour worked. When tips fall short in a given pay period, the employer must make up the difference.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-2-4 – Wage Deductions, Minimum Wage, Overtime Compensation
Indiana has no overtime statute of its own. The federal FLSA requires time-and-a-half for every hour over 40 in a single workweek, and employers cannot average two weeks together to avoid it.4U.S. Department of Labor. Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act Executive, administrative, and professional employees can be exempt from overtime, but only if they’re paid on a salary basis and meet duty tests. After a federal court vacated the Department of Labor’s 2024 rule, the salary floor for those exemptions is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year.5U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions Below that salary, a job title alone doesn’t make you exempt.
When overtime goes unpaid, the FLSA lets you recover the back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, roughly doubling the recovery. A prevailing employee can also recover attorney fees.
When You Get Paid and What Can Be Deducted
Indiana employers must pay workers at least twice a month. The schedule can be semimonthly, or biweekly if you request it, and each paycheck must cover wages earned through a date no more than ten business days before the pay date.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 22 Labor and Safety 22-2-5-1 The same ten-business-day rule applies after you leave a job. Indiana does not have a faster deadline for final paychecks after a firing or quit.7Indiana Department of Labor. When Is an Employee’s Final Paycheck Due?
If your employer misses the deadline, you can sue for the unpaid wages. When the court finds the employer did not act in good faith, it can award liquidated damages equal to twice the wages owed, plus attorney fees.8Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 22 Labor and Safety 22-2-5-2 A payroll mistake is treated differently from a deliberate withholding.
Paycheck Deductions
Your employer cannot take money out of your paycheck without a written authorization you personally signed, and you must be able to cancel that authorization at any time with written notice.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-6-2 – Assignment of Wages, Requisites Allowable deductions include insurance premiums, union dues, and purchases of items like uniforms or tools.
Deductions for uniforms and work equipment cannot exceed the lesser of $2,500 per year or 5% of your weekly disposable earnings. Personal protective equipment required under federal OSHA rules cannot be charged to you at all.9Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-6-2 – Assignment of Wages, Requisites
Unused Vacation When You Leave
Indiana has no standalone statute requiring a vacation payout at separation. Whether you get a check for unused time depends on your employer’s written policy. A policy that promises payout binds the employer; a policy that excludes payout or sets conditions like a notice period generally controls. If the handbook is silent, accrued vacation is often treated as earned wages, but read your policy before counting on the money.
Breaks During Your Shift
Indiana does not require private employers to give adult workers meal or rest breaks. A full shift can legally be scheduled without a single pause.10IN.gov. Is There Any Information Regarding Indiana Lunch or Breaks Laws? When breaks are offered, federal rules decide whether they’re paid.
Short breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes count as paid work time under federal regulations.11eCFR. 29 CFR 785.18 – Rest Meal periods of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid, but only if you’re completely relieved of duties.12U.S. Government Publishing Office. 29 CFR 785.18 – Rest and 29 CFR 785.19 – Meal Eating lunch while answering phones or watching equipment is still work, and that time must be paid.
Why You Can Be Fired, and When You Can’t
Indiana is an at-will employment state. You or your employer can end the job at any time, for any reason or no reason, without notice.13Indiana State Government. Can My Employer Terminate Me for No Reason The exceptions are narrow. An employer cannot fire you for a reason that violates a specific statute, such as retaliation for filing a workers’ compensation claim or reporting safety violations.
The Indiana Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, or veteran status. It applies to employers with six or more employees, with carve-outs for certain religious organizations and exclusively social clubs.14Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-9-1-3 – Definitions State law does not list age or sexual orientation as protected categories. Federal law fills part of that gap: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act covers workers 40 and older at businesses with 20 or more employees, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies at 15 or more employees.
Union Membership Is Your Choice
Indiana’s Right to Work law bars employers, unions, or anyone else from requiring you to join a labor organization or pay dues as a condition of getting or keeping a job.15Indiana Department of Labor. Indiana Department of Labor – Right-to-Work Even in a unionized workplace, you can decline membership without being fired or demoted.
The law gives you a private right of action in civil court and an administrative route through the Indiana Department of Labor. Violations are also criminal offenses.15Indiana Department of Labor. Indiana Department of Labor – Right-to-Work
Time Off the Law Protects
Jury Duty
Indiana does not require private employers to pay you during jury service, but it does prohibit retaliation. Your employer cannot fire, demote, or discipline you for responding to a jury summons as long as you give reasonable notice, and cannot force you to use vacation, sick, or annual leave for jury days. For businesses with ten or fewer full-time employees, the court will reschedule one worker’s service if two are called at the same time.16Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-5-24.3 – Adverse Employment Action as the Result of Jury Service
Military Service
Federal USERRA protections cover Indiana workers who leave for military service or training, with reemployment rights and protection from discrimination tied to military obligations. Indiana does not have a separate state military leave statute that goes beyond USERRA.
Voting
Indiana has no state law requiring employers to give you time off to vote. You’ll need to work around your shift or use early voting.
If You Get Hurt or See a Hazard
Nearly every Indiana employer must carry workers’ compensation insurance or qualify as self-insured. Coverage applies to injuries and deaths arising out of and during the course of employment.17Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-3-2-2 – Mandatory Compliance, Burden of Proof Employers without coverage face penalties and remain personally liable for everything owed to an injured worker.18Indiana Workers Compensation Board. WCB Compliance A handful of workers fall outside the system, including railroad employees in train service and municipal firefighters and police officers who belong to their own pension funds. For covered employees, temporary total disability benefits pay two-thirds of your average weekly wage.
Indiana runs its own OSHA-approved safety program through IOSHA, housed in the Indiana Department of Labor, with jurisdiction over most private and public workplaces in the state.19Indiana Department of Labor. DOL – IOSHA Home You can file a confidential safety complaint online, by phone, by mail, or in person. Retaliation for reporting safety concerns is illegal, and both federal whistleblower protections and state remedies may apply if an employer disciplines or fires you for complaining.
Rules for Workers Under 18
Indiana’s youth employment rules changed significantly on January 1, 2025, pulling state standards closer to federal child labor law.20Indiana Department of Labor. Indiana Department of Labor Employers who hire five or more minors must register them in the state’s Youth Employment System (YES), which replaced the old work permit. Employers with four or fewer may register voluntarily.21Indiana Department of Labor. DOL – Youth Employment Home
Hours for 14- and 15-Year-Olds
During the school year, workers aged 14 and 15 can work no more than three hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week. When school isn’t in session, those limits rise to eight hours per day and 40 per week. Work has to fall between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day, when the evening cutoff moves to 9:00 p.m. on nights not followed by a school day. All work has to be outside school hours.22Indiana Department of Labor. Teen Work Hour Restrictions
Hours for 16- and 17-Year-Olds
Workers aged 16 and 17 face no hour or time-of-day restrictions under the current rules. They can work the same schedules as adults, and no parental permission is needed for longer or later shifts.21Indiana Department of Labor. DOL – Youth Employment Home This is a change from earlier Indiana law, which limited late-night work for this age group during the school year.
Breaks for Minors
Indiana no longer requires employers to provide meal or rest breaks to minor workers, regardless of shift length.21Indiana Department of Labor. DOL – Youth Employment Home Minors’ break rights now match those of adult workers in Indiana. Many employers still offer breaks, but the legal mandate is gone.
Prohibited Work
Even with relaxed hour rules, Indiana limits what kind of work minors can perform. Workers aged 14 and 15 are barred from manufacturing, mining, construction, operating power-driven machinery, motor vehicle operation, meat preparation, and work in freezers or boiler rooms, among other categories.23Indiana Department of Labor. Prohibited and Hazardous Occupations for Minors Workers aged 16 and 17 face a narrower but still meaningful list of hazardous occupation restrictions that mirrors federal standards. Violations of hour rules, age rules, hazardous occupation rules, or YES registration draw civil penalties that climb on repeated offenses.24Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-18.1-30 – Civil Penalties