What Are Texas Labor Laws for Hourly Employees?

Texas labor laws for hourly employees lean heavily on federal rules. The state minimum wage is tied to the federal rate of $7.25 per hour, overtime and tip rules come from the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) enforces the state’s Payday Law on pay timing and deductions. Between the two systems you get real protections on what you’re paid, when you’re paid, and what can be taken out — but almost none on breaks or scheduling.

Minimum Wage in Texas

Texas Labor Code Section 62.051 sets the state minimum wage at whatever the federal minimum happens to be, currently $7.25 per hour for non-exempt hourly workers.¹ There is no separate state rate that could rise on its own, so any increase depends on Congress raising the federal floor.²

If You Earn Tips

If you regularly earn more than $30 a month in tips, your employer can pay a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and claim a “tip credit” for the difference up to $7.25.³ Two things have to be true: the employer must tell you about the tip credit in advance, and your tips plus the cash wage must actually reach $7.25 for every hour worked. If they don’t, the employer owes you the difference.⁴

Federal law also prohibits employers, managers, and supervisors from keeping any part of your tips, whether or not the employer takes a tip credit.⁴ Tip pools are legal, but when the employer uses a tip credit, only employees who customarily receive tips (servers, bartenders, bussers) can be in the pool. An employer paying the full $7.25 with no tip credit may include back-of-house workers such as cooks and dishwashers.⁵

Overtime After 40 Hours

Non-exempt hourly employees earn overtime at one and one-half times their regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek. A workweek is any fixed, recurring 168-hour period; it doesn’t have to start on Monday, and your employer can’t average hours across two weeks to dodge the threshold.⁶

Your regular rate isn’t always your base hourly wage. Non-discretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and production incentives all have to be folded into the regular rate before overtime is calculated.⁷ Purely discretionary bonuses, like a surprise holiday gift the employer had no obligation to pay, are excluded.⁸ Employers who pay overtime on the base rate alone end up owing back wages.

Who Counts as Exempt

Overtime protections only apply to non-exempt employees. To be exempt under the executive, administrative, or professional categories, a worker must both perform certain higher-level duties and earn at least $684 per week on a salary basis ($35,568 annually). That threshold comes from the 2019 Department of Labor rule and remains in effect after a federal court in Texas vacated the DOL’s 2024 attempt to raise it.⁹ If you earn less than $684 per week, you are entitled to overtime regardless of your job title.

Breaks and Meal Periods

Here’s where hourly workers in Texas get the least protection: neither state nor federal law requires employers to give adult workers lunch breaks or rest periods.¹⁰ Many employers offer them, but that’s a policy choice. When breaks are given, two federal rules control whether the time is paid:

Short breaks of 20 minutes or less always count as hours worked and must be paid. A coffee break or restroom stop cannot reduce your daily pay.¹¹
Meal periods of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid only if you are completely relieved of all duties. Eating at your desk while answering phones or watching equipment means the time must be paid.¹⁰

Break Time for Nursing Employees

One statutory break requirement does apply. Under the federal PUMP Act, employers must provide reasonable break time for a non-exempt employee to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth, along with a private space that is not a bathroom and is shielded from view. The break time is unpaid unless you are not completely relieved from work during it. Employers with fewer than 50 workers can claim an exemption if compliance would cause significant difficulty or expense relative to the size of the business.¹²

What Can Be Deducted From Your Paycheck

Texas puts real limits on paycheck deductions. Under Section 61.018 of the Labor Code, an employer can withhold money only in three situations: a court orders the withholding, a state or federal law requires it (payroll taxes, child support, IRS levies), or you have given written authorization for a specific lawful deduction.¹³

That written-authorization requirement matters. Employers sometimes deduct for uniforms, tools, cash register shortages, or meal costs, and every one of those deductions needs your signed consent first. Without it, the deduction is invalid and you can file a wage claim. Even with your authorization, federal law adds a second limit: no deduction can push your effective pay below $7.25 per hour or cut into overtime you have already earned. Charging a $50 uniform fee in a week where you barely cleared the minimum has likely crossed a legal line.

Pay Schedule and Payment Methods

The Texas Payday Law requires employers to pay non-exempt hourly workers at least twice per month, with each pay period covering roughly the same number of days. Paydays must be designated and posted where workers can see them. If the employer never sets paydays, the law defaults to the 1st and 15th of each month.¹⁴

Wages can be paid in cash, by negotiable check, or by electronic deposit. Payroll cards are also allowed, but only if the employer gives you a statement of earnings and deductions and lets you make at least one free withdrawal per pay period.¹⁴ Fees for accessing your pay cannot effectively drop your earnings below the legal minimum.

When You Get Your Final Paycheck

The timing of your last check depends on how the job ended:

If you were fired, laid off, or otherwise discharged, the employer must pay all earned wages within six calendar days of the termination date.¹⁴
If you quit or resigned, the employer has until the next regularly scheduled payday after your last day.¹⁵

The six-day clock for involuntary separations runs from the date of discharge and does not bend to fit the employer’s payroll cycle. Final pay must include all earned wages, including commissions or bonuses owed under a written agreement. Accrued vacation only has to be paid out if the employer’s own written policy or employment agreement promises it. Texas law does not independently require a vacation payout.

Filing a Wage Claim for Unpaid Wages

If your employer shorts your pay, you can file a wage claim with the Texas Workforce Commission. The deadline is 180 days from the date the wages were originally due, not 180 days from when you noticed the problem.¹⁶ Claims filed even a day late are typically dismissed without review. You can submit through the TWC’s online portal or send a paper form by mail or fax.

After the TWC receives your claim, an investigator contacts both sides and reviews the evidence. If the agency sides with you, it issues a preliminary wage determination ordering the employer to pay. Either party can appeal within 21 calendar days of the date the order is mailed.¹⁷ Employers who lose and refuse to pay face administrative penalties of up to the lesser of the wages owed or $1,000, and the TWC can pursue liens or bank levies to collect.¹⁶

The Federal Alternative

If your dispute involves unpaid overtime or minimum wage under the FLSA, you also have the option of filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor or bringing a private lawsuit. The federal statute of limitations is two years from the date of the violation, or three years if the violation was willful.¹⁸ That’s a longer window than the TWC’s 180 days, which sometimes matters when workers discover unpaid overtime months after the fact. A successful federal claim can also recover liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages, effectively doubling the recovery.

At-Will Employment

Texas is an at-will employment state. Your employer can end the relationship at any time for any reason that isn’t specifically illegal, and you can quit just as freely.¹⁹ At-will does not mean anything goes. Firing someone because of race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or age (40 and older) violates federal anti-discrimination laws. Firing someone in retaliation for filing a wage claim or reporting a safety hazard is also illegal. Absent one of those prohibited reasons or a written employment contract, though, no advance notice or cause is required from either side.

1
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 62.051 – Minimum Wage
2
U.S. Department of Labor. State Minimum Wage Laws
3
U.S. Department of Labor. Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 203 – Definitions
5
U.S. Department of Labor. Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
6
U.S. Department of Labor. Overtime Pay
7
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 56C – Bonuses Under the FLSA
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 207 – Maximum Hours
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemptions
10
Texas Workforce Commission. Breaks
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Breaks and Meal Periods
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 218d – Breastfeeding Accommodations in the Workplace
13
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Section 61.018 – Deduction From Wages
14
State of Texas. Texas Labor Code Chapter 61 – Payment of Wages
15
Texas Workforce Commission. Final Pay
16
Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Law – Wage Claim
17
Texas Workforce Commission. Texas Payday Wage Claim Appeals
18
U.S. Department of Labor. Back Pay
19
Texas Workforce Commission. Pay and Policies – General