The Louisiana minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The state has no minimum wage law of its own, so the federal rate set by the Fair Labor Standards Act applies to every covered employer in Louisiana, and it has been frozen at that level since July 2009.1U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 206 – Minimum Wage
Louisiana is one of five states, along with Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with no state wage floor at all.1U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws That makes the federal rules the only rules that matter for your paycheck.
Which Employers and Workers Are Covered
The FLSA reaches employers two ways. A business with annual gross sales of at least $500,000 is covered as a whole, meaning every employee gets the minimum wage.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #14: Coverage Under the Fair Labor Standards Act Below that threshold, individual employees are still covered if their work touches interstate commerce. Federal courts read that broadly: running credit card transactions, using the internet for business tasks, or shipping goods across state lines all count.
The main exemption is for salaried executive, administrative, and professional employees. The enforceable salary threshold is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, under the 2019 rule. The Department of Labor tried to raise it in 2024, but a federal court in Texas vacated that increase.4U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption A salaried employee paid above that line and performing qualifying duties is not entitled to minimum wage or overtime.
What Tipped Workers Must Be Paid
Tipped employees in Louisiana can be paid a cash wage of as little as $2.13 per hour, provided they regularly earn more than $30 a month in tips. The employer takes a tip credit of up to $5.12 per hour to reach the $7.25 floor.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act The combination of cash wage and tips has to equal at least $7.25 for every hour worked in a pay period. If it doesn’t, the employer owes you the difference.
This is where violations show up most often. If your cash wage plus tips regularly falls short of $7.25 per hour and your employer never makes up the gap, that is a federal wage violation, no matter how small the shortfall looks on any given shift.
Federal rules also control tip pools. No employer can keep any part of your tips, and managers and supervisors cannot share in a pool.6U.S. Department of Labor. Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act If the employer pays the full $7.25 and takes no tip credit, the pool can include back-of-house workers like cooks and dishwashers. If the employer takes the tip credit, only customarily tipped employees can be in it.
Overtime After 40 Hours
Louisiana has no overtime law of its own, so federal rules apply. Non-exempt workers get one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a single workweek.7U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay At the federal minimum wage, that comes to $10.88 per hour. There is no federal limit on how many hours an employee aged 16 or older can work in a week; every hour past 40 just has to be paid at the overtime rate unless the worker is exempt.
Overtime is calculated workweek by workweek, not averaged across a pay period. If you put in 50 hours one week and 30 the next, you are owed 10 hours of overtime for the first week even though the two-week average is 40.
Youth Minimum Wage
Workers under 20 can be paid $4.25 per hour during their first 90 consecutive calendar days with an employer.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #32: Youth Minimum Wage – Fair Labor Standards Act Those are calendar days, so weekends, holidays, and days off all count toward the 90. Once the worker turns 20 or hits day 91 (whichever comes first), the full $7.25 kicks in. An employer cannot displace an existing worker to hire someone at this reduced rate. Many employers skip it entirely and pay $7.25 from the start.
Can a Louisiana City Set a Higher Minimum Wage?
No. A state preemption statute specifically blocks any city, parish, or other local government in Louisiana from requiring private employers to pay a higher minimum wage. The same law stops local governments from mandating paid or unpaid sick leave or vacation time.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Laws RS 23:642 – Setting Minimum Wage or Employee Benefits; Prohibited New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and every other Louisiana city are locked to the federal rate. A change has to come from Baton Rouge or Washington.
What To Do If You’re Being Underpaid
Because the state has no wage law to enforce, every minimum wage, overtime, and tip complaint in Louisiana goes to the federal Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. You can file by calling 1-866-487-9243. Complaints are confidential, and it is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you for filing one.10U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
What you can recover is substantial. An employer who underpays owes the full amount of unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, which effectively doubles the recovery.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties A court can reduce or eliminate the liquidated damages only if the employer proves it acted in good faith with a reasonable belief that what it was doing was legal.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 260 – Liquidated Damages Repeat or willful violators also face civil penalties of up to $1,100 per violation, and willful violations can carry criminal fines of up to $10,000 and six months in jail for repeat offenders.
Deadlines are strict. You have two years from the date of the violation to file a claim for unpaid wages, or three years if the violation was willful.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 255 – Statute of Limitations The clock runs separately from each paycheck, not from the day you left the job. Wait too long and the oldest weeks drop off, even if the pattern of underpayment continued.
Is a Change to the Louisiana Minimum Wage Coming?
Several bills have tried to create a Louisiana minimum wage above the federal rate. Senate Bill 7 in 2021 proposed $9.00 per hour and did not advance.14Louisiana State Legislature. Senate Bill 7 – Bill Information House Bill 302 in 2023 would have reached $12.00 by 2026 with inflation adjustments after that; it passed both chambers but never took effect, and Louisiana still has no state minimum wage.15Louisiana State Legislature. Enrolled 2023 Regular Session House Bill 302 Senate Bill 206 in 2025 proposed a phased schedule rising to $14.00 by 2029.16Louisiana State Legislature. Senate Bill 206 – 2025 Regular Session A 2026 bill from Senator Regina Barrow would set the rate at $10.25 with annual adjustments tied to wage growth.
At the federal level, the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 would gradually lift the federal minimum to $17.00 by 2030, phase out the $2.13 tipped wage, and eliminate the youth subminimum. Similar bills have come up in previous sessions without passing. The federal $7.25 has not moved since 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since the minimum wage was created in 1938.17U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wage For now, $7.25 is the number that governs pay in Louisiana.