State labor lawRead at source, 24 September 2026

Indiana Labor Laws for Employers (2026): Breaks, Overtime, Final Pay and Hiring

Indiana mostly follows federal law. There are no required meal or rest breaks for adults or minors, overtime is time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek with no daily rule, and the minimum wage is $7.25. Final pay is due on the regular payday whether the employee is fired or quits. There is no state paid sick leave, pay transparency or private-employer E-Verify law, and cities cannot add their own leave or scheduling mandates. Report new hires within 20 days; teen work permits and state registration are gone, but hours limits for 14- and 15-year-olds remain.

Indiana employment law at a glance

Indiana adds little to federal law for most private employers. The state minimum wage and overtime rules mirror the federal ones, there are no required breaks for adults or minors, and the legislature has barred cities and counties from adding their own leave, scheduling or benefit mandates. Where Indiana does set its own rules is in paydays, final pay, lactation space and the youth hours limits. Here is the whole picture.

Indiana break laws

The Indiana Department of Labor puts it plainly: "Indiana state law does not generally require employers to provide rest breaks, meal breaks, or breaks for other purposes to employees." That has been true for minors too since April 1, 2020, when the youth employment law dropped its break and lunch rule; the department's youth page now says employers "are no longer required to provide a minor with a break or lunch regardless of the number of hours worked in a day." Indiana sits with the no-requirement states on our meal break laws by state table.

Federal law still decides how the breaks you do give are paid. Under 29 CFR 785.18, short rest breaks of about 5 to 20 minutes are work time and must be paid. A meal period, usually 30 minutes or more, can be unpaid only if the employee is completely relieved of duty; answering calls or email at lunch makes it work time. Truck drivers and some other regulated workers have break rules from their own federal regulators.

Lactation

Indiana has its own lactation rule. An employer with 25 or more employees (IC 22-2-14-1) must, "to the extent reasonably possible," provide a private location other than a toilet stall where an employee can express breast milk, and either provide a refrigerator or other cold storage or let the employee bring her own (IC 22-2-14-2). The federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act adds reasonable break time for one year after the child's birth for employees covered by the FLSA.

Indiana overtime laws

Indiana's overtime rule is the same as the federal one: 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek (IC 22-2-2-4). Most Indiana employers are covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Indiana Minimum Wage Law picks up employers with two or more employees who are not (IC 22-2-2-3). For hourly hiring, the practical points are:

• No daily overtime. The department's guidance is that overtime is owed only after 40 hours in a workweek; overtime after 8 hours a day exists only if a contract or union agreement promises it.
• Exempt status follows the federal duties tests and the federal salary level in 29 CFR 541.600, currently $684 a week. Indiana does not set a higher threshold.
• Two rates in one week. If an employee does two kinds of work at different rates in one week, the regular rate for overtime is normally the weighted average of those rates, as under federal law.
• Comp time in place of overtime pay is not available to private employers under federal law.
• Complaints. The Indiana Department of Labor directs overtime claims to the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.

Compare Indiana with the daily-overtime states on our overtime laws by state page.

Paying employees in Indiana

Minimum wage

Indiana's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Since 2007 the statute has simply required the federal minimum wage, so the state rate moves only if the federal rate does. Tipped employees can be paid a $2.13 cash wage when tips make up the rest. See Indiana minimum wage for the detail.

Paydays and deductions

Indiana requires payment at least semimonthly, or biweekly if the employee requests it, and each payment must cover wages earned up to a date no more than 10 business days before the payday (IC 22-2-5-1). The department's guidance is that weekly, biweekly, semimonthly or monthly schedules are all possible by agreement, but a request for biweekly or semimonthly pay has to be honored. Deductions are tightly limited: an employee may assign wages for uniforms or equipment only up to the lesser of $2,500 a year or 5% of weekly disposable earnings, and never below the federal minimum wage. Our pay frequency laws by state page compares states.

Final paychecks

If you separate an employee from the payroll, unpaid wages are due "at regular pay day for pay period in which separation occurred" (IC 22-2-9-2). If the employee quits, you do not have to pay until the next usual and regular payday; if they leave without giving an address, the deadline runs from 10 business days after they demand the wages or give you an address (IC 22-2-5-1(b)). If a court finds a failure to pay was not in good faith, it must order liquidated damages of two times the wages due, plus attorney fees and costs, according to the Department of Labor. Employees who were fired or laid off must file a wage claim with the Indiana Department of Labor before they can sue. See final paycheck laws by state.

Vacation payout

The department treats accrued vacation pay as compensation, so a departing employee may be entitled to a pro rata share, subject to conditions set out in the employer's written policy. Write the policy before someone leaves. See PTO payout laws by state.

Indiana hiring laws

Indiana's pre-hire rules are light, and several of them exist to stop local governments from adding more.

• Pay transparency and salary history. Indiana has no state law requiring a pay range in postings and no state salary history ban.
• Criminal history. There is no private-employer ban-the-box law, and cities may not require one: a political subdivision may not stop an employer from asking about or requiring disclosure of criminal history on the initial application (IC 22-2-17-3). Federal EEOC guidance and the Fair Credit Reporting Act still govern how you use a background check. See ban-the-box laws by state.
• E-Verify. Required only for contractors on state and local public service contracts and for businesses receiving certain grants over $1,000 (IC 22-5-1.7-11). Everyone completes the federal Form I-9.
• New-hire reporting. Report every new hire to the Indiana New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the day the employee begins working, per the Department of Child Services.
• Minors. Indiana eliminated work permits, and the Youth Employment System (YES) registration portal was decommissioned effective July 1, 2026 under House Enrolled Act 1302, so there is nothing to register. The hours rules remain: 14- and 15-year-olds may work 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, 18 hours in a school week and 40 hours in a non-school week, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). Since January 1, 2025, 16- and 17-year-olds may work the same hours as adults. Hazardous-occupation limits still follow federal law. See child labor laws by state.
• At-will. Indiana is an at-will state; absent a contract or union agreement, employers may hire, fire and set hours at their discretion, within anti-discrimination law.

Paid leave in Indiana

Indiana has no paid sick leave law. The Department of Labor's position is that "Indiana law only requires that employers must pay employees for actual time worked," so sick days, personal days and holidays are paid only if your policy promises them. Local governments cannot fill that gap: a city or county may not require employers to provide a benefit, term of employment, working condition, or "attendance, scheduling, or leave policy" beyond what state or federal law requires (IC 22-2-16-3). There is no state family leave program, so the federal FMLA covers employers with 50 or more employees.

Posters and records

Employers covered by the Indiana Minimum Wage Law must display the state minimum wage poster, and employers of 14- and 15-year-olds must display the current youth employment poster; both are free on the Department of Labor's publications page. Employers under the state law must also give each employee a statement of hours worked, wages paid and deductions. Our labor law posters by state page lists the federal notices as well.

Local ordinances and state preemption

Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and every other Indiana city follow the state rules. The legislature has blocked the local ordinances that change the answer in other states: no local minimum wage, no local sick leave or scheduling mandate (IC 22-2-16-3), and no local ban-the-box rule for private employers (IC 22-2-17-3). So the rules are the same across the state, and none of the city scheduling laws on our predictive scheduling laws by state page apply here.

What this means when you're hiring hourly workers in Indiana

With the legal floor at $7.25, the law does very little to set your pay; the local labor market does. That makes the pay line in your job ad the most important sentence you write. Put the actual hourly rate, the shift and the town in the first line, because a candidate scrolling Facebook in Evansville or Elkhart is comparing you with employers who pay far more than the minimum. If you offer paid sick days or holiday pay, say so; Indiana does not require them, so they set you apart.

The paperwork after the offer is short: Form I-9, the 20-day new-hire report and, for teen hires, the hours limits. That leaves speed as the variable you control. Keep the application short and call or text the same day. Our job ad copywriting guide covers the first line, and manufacturing recruiting shows how we run social job ads for plant and warehouse roles.

Frequently asked questions

Sources read 24 September 2026: IC 22-2-2-3, 22-2-2-4, 22-2-5-1, 22-2-9-2, 22-2-14-1, 22-2-14-2, 22-2-16-3, 22-2-17-3, 22-5-1.7-11; Indiana Department of Labor; Indiana Department of Child Services; U.S. Department of Labor. Part of Boostpoint’s state labor law series; see also Indiana minimum wage.