Indiana Labor Laws: Wages, Breaks, Leave, and Minors

Indiana labor laws set a $7.25 minimum wage, require employers to pay workers on a regular schedule, tightly limit paycheck deductions, impose detailed restrictions on employing minors, and leave most workers in an at-will relationship with their employer. Overtime, anti-discrimination protections, workplace safety, and family leave come largely from federal law working alongside Title 22 of the Indiana Code, with the Indiana Department of Labor enforcing state wage and youth employment rules.

Minimum Wage, Tipped Pay, and Overtime

The state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, matching the federal rate, and it applies to any employer with at least two employees in a workweek.¹ Very small employers with a single employee and no interstate commerce can fall outside the statute, but most workplaces are covered.

Tipped employees can be paid a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour when the employer claims a tip credit, so long as tips plus the base wage reach $7.25 for every hour worked. If they fall short in any week, the employer has to make up the difference.¹

Overtime applies when a non-exempt employee works more than 40 hours in a single workweek, paid at one and a half times the regular rate. Employers cannot average hours across two weeks to avoid the obligation.¹

Who Is Exempt From Overtime

Salaried employees in executive, administrative, and professional roles are exempt only if they meet both a salary test and a duties test. After federal courts blocked planned increases, the salary threshold stays at $684 per week, or $35,568 per year. Highly compensated employees qualify under a separate exemption at $107,432 per year.² Hitting the salary number is not enough on its own. The actual job must involve managing other workers, exercising independent judgment on significant business matters, or applying advanced knowledge in a specialized field.

Paychecks, Deductions, and Final Pay

Indiana employers must pay workers at least semi-monthly, or biweekly if the employee asks for it. Each paycheck has to cover wages earned through a date no more than ten business days before payday.³ That ten-day window is a hard outer limit.

When an employer misses a payday, the worker can sue for the unpaid wages and attorney fees. If a court finds the employer acted in bad faith, it can order liquidated damages equal to double the wages owed.⁴

What Can Come Out of Your Paycheck

Wage deductions are tightly controlled. An employer can withhold money only when the employee has signed a written authorization that can be revoked in writing at any time, and the employer must also agree to the deduction in writing.⁵

Even with a signed authorization, the deduction has to serve a purpose the statute lists: insurance premiums, union dues, charitable contributions, U.S. bonds, company stock, employer-provided merchandise, employer loans, retirement contributions, or credit union payments.⁵ Deductions for things like uniforms or training that are not on the list deserve scrutiny. For overpayments, an employer can recoup the money but has to give at least two weeks’ notice and cannot pull more than 25% of disposable earnings in a single week.⁶

Final Paychecks and Vacation

Indiana is an at-will state. Either side can end the employment relationship at any time for any reason that isn’t illegal, and no justification is required outside of discrimination and retaliation protections.⁷

When the job ends, the final paycheck is due by the next regularly scheduled payday. Indiana does not require immediate payment on the last day worked. Missing the deadline exposes the employer to a wage claim or lawsuit, with the same bad-faith double-damages exposure as other late pay cases.⁴

Accrued vacation is treated as a form of compensation, and a departing employee may be owed a pro rata share. But if the company’s policy or an employment contract sets conditions for payout, those conditions control. Employer vacation policies carry a lot of weight here, so check the handbook before you count on a check.⁸

Meal and Rest Breaks

Indiana does not require meal or rest breaks for employees who are 18 or older.⁹ Any adult break policy comes from the employer’s handbook or a collective bargaining agreement, not the state code.

When an employer does offer breaks, federal rules decide whether they’re paid. Short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes count as paid work time under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Meal periods of 30 minutes or longer don’t have to be paid, but only when the employee is completely relieved of duties.¹⁰ A worker who answers phones through lunch has not been relieved and should be paid for the time.

Nursing Mothers

The federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which expanded FLSA protections in 2022, requires employers to provide reasonable break time and a private space, not a bathroom, for employees to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth. The space must be shielded from view and free from intrusion.¹¹ This covers most Indiana employees regardless of whether the employer has a formal break policy.

Rules for Employing Minors

Indiana’s child labor rules under IC 22-2-18.1 are more detailed than many employers expect. Minors under 14 generally cannot work except in narrow situations like farm labor or caddying. For 14- and 15-year-olds, work is limited to non-school hours and capped at 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week. On non-school days they can work up to 8 hours, with a 40-hour weekly maximum during summer and school breaks.¹²

Evening curfews apply too. Workers aged 14 and 15 cannot work past 7:00 p.m. during the school year, extending to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day. Ages 16 and 17 get more flexibility but still have scheduling limits. Every minor is entitled to a 30-minute break after six consecutive hours of work, a guarantee adult workers do not have under state law.

The Youth Employment System

Indiana has eliminated paper work permits. In their place is the Youth Employment System (YES), a digital platform run by the Department of Labor. Employers with five or more employees aged 14 through 17 must register those workers in YES. Smaller employers with four or fewer minor employees can use the system voluntarily.¹³ When a minor leaves the job, the employer must remove the record.

Penalties and Hazardous Work

Penalties escalate with repeat offenses. Minor hour violations of 30 minutes or less start with a warning letter and rise to $50, $75, and $100 per instance for later infractions. More serious violations, including failure to register in YES, hour violations over 30 minutes, and allowing minors to perform hazardous work, start with a warning and climb to $100, $200, and $400 per instance.¹⁴

Federal law also prohibits anyone under 18 from working in 17 categories of hazardous occupations, including operating power-driven woodworking or metalworking machines, driving motor vehicles, mining and logging work, handling explosives or radioactive materials, and operating forklifts, cranes, and similar hoisting equipment. The ban on power-driven meat slicers reaches into restaurant kitchens and delis.¹⁵ An Indiana employer who assigns minors to any of these tasks risks both state penalties and federal enforcement.

Discrimination and Retaliation Protections

Indiana’s Civil Rights Act (IC 22-9-1) prohibits employment discrimination based on race, religion, color, sex, disability, national origin, ancestry, and veteran status. The law applies to employers with six or more employees. Fraternal and religious nonprofits, schools affiliated with a church, and exclusively social clubs are exempt.¹⁶

The Indiana Civil Rights Commission investigates complaints, and workers can also file with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which covers additional categories like age (40 and older) and genetic information. Because Indiana has its own anti-discrimination agency, workers get 300 days from the date of the discriminatory act to file an EEOC charge rather than the shorter 180-day window used in states without one.¹⁷

At-will employment does not give an employer the right to fire you for reporting illegal activity. The Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal statutes include anti-retaliation provisions that bar firing, demoting, or cutting pay in response to a protected report.¹⁸ Indiana separately protects workers from retaliation for filing wage claims or using rights under the minimum wage law. Under IC 22-5-4, employers also cannot fire or discriminate against workers for using tobacco products outside work hours, though they can offer financial incentives tied to health benefits that encourage quitting.

Workplace Safety Under IOSHA

Indiana runs its own OSHA program, known as IOSHA, through the Department of Labor. It covers private sector workplaces and state and local government, with limited exceptions for maritime employment, certain postal service contractors, and agricultural operations under federal standards.¹⁹

The federal general duty clause, which Indiana adopts, requires every employer to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.²⁰ That means safe equipment, protective gear where needed, and training on the specific hazards a worker will face. Employees who think their workplace is unsafe can file an IOSHA complaint without fear of retaliation.

Family and Military Leave

Indiana does not have a state paid family or medical leave law. Federal protection comes through the Family and Medical Leave Act, which entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition, the birth or adoption of a child, or to care for a seriously ill family member. To qualify, you must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours during that period, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.²¹

Military Family Leave

Indiana offers a separate right under IC 22-2-13 for employees whose family members are called to active military duty. Eligible employees, meaning those with at least 12 months and 1,500 hours of service in the preceding year, can take up to 10 working days of leave per calendar year. The leave can be used during the 30 days before active duty orders take effect, during a service member’s leave while on active duty, or during the 30 days after orders end. It’s unpaid unless the employee chooses to use accrued vacation or personal time.

Filing a Wage Claim

If an Indiana employer owes you wages, the Department of Labor accepts claims through an online form, with firm limits: the claim must be for at least $30 and no more than $6,000, the unpaid wages cannot be more than two years old, and the claim cannot involve a pending or concluded lawsuit. Independent contractors, business partners, and owners cannot file.²²

After submitting the form, you have two weeks to send supporting documentation like pay stubs, timesheets, or employer policies. Claims without that backup are not processed. The Department investigates as a service but does not guarantee compensation, and for amounts above $6,000, the matter has to go through the courts.²² Keeping your own copies of pay stubs and time records is the single most useful thing you can do if you suspect a wage violation; those documents become the core of any claim or lawsuit that follows.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-2-4 – Wage Regulations
2
U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-5-1
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-5-2
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-6-2 – Assignment of Wages Requisites
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-6-4 – Wage Deductions for Overpayment
7
Indiana State Government. Can My Employer Terminate Me for No Reason
8
Indiana State Government. When I Leave My Employment, Is My Former Employer Required to Pay Me for Any Accrued Vacation Time
9
IN.gov. Is There Any Information Regarding Indiana Lunch or Breaks Laws
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Breaks and Meal Periods
11
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Selected State Child Labor Standards Affecting Minors Under 18 in Non-farm Employment
13
Indiana Department of Labor. Youth Employment System (YES)
14
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-2-18.1-30
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #43: Child Labor Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act for Nonagricultural Occupations
16
IN.gov. IC 22-9-1 Chapter 1 – Civil Rights Enforcement
17
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Complaint
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Whistleblower Protections
19
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Indiana State Plan
20
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSH Act of 1970 – Duties
21
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act
22
Indiana Department of Labor. Online Wage Claim Form