State labor lawRead at source, 24 September 2026

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

Pennsylvania does not require breaks for adults, but workers aged 14 to 17 must get a 30-minute meal period on or before five consecutive hours. Overtime is time and a half after 40 hours a week with no daily rule, and final pay is due by the next regular payday whether the employee quits or is fired. The minimum wage is $7.25, with a $2.83 tipped cash wage. Every minor needs a work permit, new hires must be reported within 20 days, and Philadelphia adds its own sick leave and fair-chance hiring rules.

Pennsylvania employment law at a glance

Pennsylvania's wage floor is the federal $7.25, but the state layers its own rules on top: a higher tipped cash wage, a stricter test for taking the tip credit, work permits for every minor, and a meal-break rule for teenage workers. Philadelphia adds more for employers inside the city. Here is the picture for a private employer.

Pennsylvania break laws

The Department of Labor & Industry's wage FAQs put the adult rule simply: "Employers are not required to give breaks for employees 18 and over." Pennsylvania sits with the no-requirement states on our meal break laws by state table. The Department adds the federal pay rules: if you allow breaks and they last less than 20 minutes, they must be paid, and a meal period of more than 20 minutes can be unpaid if the employee does not work during it. Federal law (29 CFR 785.18) treats short rest breaks the same way.

Minors

Minors are different. Under the Child Labor Act, every worker aged 14 through 17 must get a 30-minute meal period on or before five consecutive hours of work. It is easy to miss if you read only the adult row, especially for restaurant, grocery and seasonal jobs with five-hour shifts.

Seasonal farmworkers and lactation

Seasonal farmworkers are the one adult exception: the U.S. Department of Labor's state meal period table notes a 30-minute meal period after five hours for seasonal farmworkers in Pennsylvania. For nursing employees, the federal PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act requires reasonable break time and a private space other than a bathroom for one year after the child's birth; we did not find a separate Pennsylvania rule for private employers.

Pennsylvania overtime laws

Pennsylvania's Minimum Wage Act of 1968 has its own overtime requirement: most employees must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. The number of employees an employer has makes no difference. The points where Pennsylvania matters for hourly jobs:

• No daily overtime. A ten- or twelve-hour shift creates no overtime unless weekly hours pass 40.
• Hospitals and care facilities. Since Act 109 of 2012, employers and employees in hospitals and residential care can agree to the federal "8 and 80" system, paying overtime after 8 hours in a day or 80 hours in a 14-day period.
• Health care shifts. Act 102, the Prohibition of Excessive Overtime in Health Care Act, bars health care facilities from requiring direct-care hourly employees to work beyond their agreed, regularly scheduled shift, with exceptions for unforeseeable emergencies and procedures already in progress. Employees may still volunteer for overtime.
• Exempt status. The Department follows the federal duties tests and the federal salary level of $684 a week (29 CFR 541.600).
• Salaried non-exempt workers. Under rules in effect since August 5, 2022, the Department finds a salaried employee's regular rate by dividing total weekly earnings by 40 hours, and hours over 40 are paid at 1.5 times that rate. That is more than the federal "half-time" fluctuating-workweek method would produce. The Department's overtime and tipped worker rules page explains the change.
• Comp time. The Department's FAQs say compensatory time off in place of overtime pay "is not legal."

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

Paying employees in Pennsylvania

Minimum wage and tips

Pennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, the federal rate, and section 4(a.1) of the Minimum Wage Act raises it automatically if the federal rate rises. A bill to raise the state minimum, House Bill 2189, passed the House on March 24, 2026, but has not passed the Senate, so it is not law. The tipped cash wage is $2.83, higher than the federal $2.13, and the Department's overtime and tipped worker rules add three conditions: the employee must receive at least $135 a month in tips; a tip-credit employee may not spend more than 20% of the workweek on duties that do not directly produce tips; and no credit card processing fees may come out of tips. Full detail is on our Pennsylvania minimum wage page.

Paydays

The Wage Payment and Collection Law requires employers to pay wages on regular paydays designated in advance. Wages earned in a pay period are due within the time set by written contract or, if none, within the standard time lapse customary in the trade or within 15 days of the end of the pay period. Overtime can be paid in the next pay period. See pay frequency laws by state.

Final paychecks

Whether you separate the employee or they quit or resign, final wages are due "not later than the next regular payday" on which they would otherwise be paid, and must be sent by certified mail if the employee asks (WPCL section 5). Vacation, sick and severance pay are owed only if your policy or contract promises them: the Department's FAQs state that "an employer must follow its own rules for these kinds of payments." See final paycheck laws by state and PTO payout laws by state.

Pennsylvania hiring laws

• Pay transparency and salary history. Pennsylvania has no state law requiring a pay range in job postings and no statewide salary history ban. Philadelphia's Wage Equity Ordinance makes it illegal for employers to ask about current or prior salary during the application or hiring process.
• Criminal history, statewide. Under 18 Pa.C.S. 9125, an employer may consider felony and misdemeanor convictions only "to the extent to which they relate to the applicant's suitability for employment in the position," and must notify the applicant in writing if a decision not to hire is based in whole or in part on criminal history record information. The statute's permission covers felony and misdemeanor convictions, not arrests.
• Criminal history, Philadelphia. The city's Fair Chance Hiring law applies to employers with one or more employees, bars criminal-record questions on job applications, allows a background check only after a conditional offer, limits consideration to convictions within seven years (not counting incarceration), and requires written notice, a copy of the report and 10 days for the applicant to respond before a rejection. The city notes new amendments took effect in January 2026. See ban-the-box laws by state.
• E-Verify. Required for construction industry employers under Act 75, in effect since October 7, 2020. Every employer, in construction or not, completes the federal Form I-9. See E-Verify requirements by state.
• New-hire reporting. Report each new hire to the Commonwealth directory of new hires no later than 20 days from the date of hire (23 Pa.C.S. 4392).
• Minors and work permits. Every minor under 18 needs a work permit from their school district's issuing officer, and under-16s need a written parental acknowledgment of the duties and hours. When school is in session, 14- and 15-year-olds may work 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., up to 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours a week; 16- and 17-year-olds may work 6 a.m. to midnight, up to 8 hours on a school day and 28 hours a week. Outside the school term, 14- and 15-year-olds may work 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., up to 8 hours a day and 40 a week; 16- and 17-year-olds 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., up to 10 hours a day and 48 a week, and they cannot be required to work more than 45. No minor may work more than six consecutive days. See child labor laws by state.

Paid leave in Pennsylvania

There is no statewide paid sick leave law. The Department of Labor & Industry's position is that "there is no Pennsylvania labor law which requires an employer to pay an employee not to work," so sick, vacation and holiday pay depend on your policy, which you must then follow. Two cities are different:

• Philadelphia. Under the city's paid sick leave law, employers with 10 or more employees must provide paid sick leave, and those with nine or fewer must provide unpaid sick leave. Employees earn one hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a calendar year, and employers must keep accrual records for three years.
• Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has its own paid sick days ordinance. We could not load the city's page to confirm its current accrual caps, so check the City of Pittsburgh's current rules before you set a policy there.

Pennsylvania has no state family leave program; the federal FMLA applies at 50 or more employees.

Posters and records

Employers covered by the Minimum Wage Act must display the state's mandatory posters, which the Department lists on its mandatory postings page. Keep wage and hour records for at least three years. Our labor law posters by state page lists the federal notices as well.

Local ordinances and state preemption

Section 14.1 of the Minimum Wage Act preempts "any local ordinance or rule concerning the subject matter of this act," so Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and other cities cannot set a higher minimum wage for private employers. The preemption does not reach other subjects, which is why Philadelphia has its own sick leave, fair-chance hiring and salary history laws, plus a Fair Workweek law requiring covered retail, food service and hospitality chains to post schedules 14 days in advance. See predictive scheduling laws by state.

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

With the state floor at $7.25, your pay is set by the market, not the law, and candidates in Pennsylvania compare employers on the hourly rate first. Lead your job ad with the rate, the shift and the town. If you hire in Philadelphia, keep criminal-history and salary questions off the application entirely, and move the background check to after a conditional offer. If you hire teenagers anywhere in the state, collect the work permit before the first shift and build a 30-minute meal period into any shift of five hours or more.

The paperwork is manageable, which leaves speed as the part you control: a short application and a same-day reply win more hires than a longer screen. Our job ad copywriting guide covers the first line, pay transparency laws by state shows where ranges are required, and frontline hiring covers how we run social job ads for hourly roles.

Frequently asked questions

Sources read 24 September 2026: Minimum Wage Act of 1968 (sections 4, 4(a.1), 14.1); Wage Payment and Collection Law (sections 3, 5); 18 Pa.C.S. 9125; 23 Pa.C.S. 4392; Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry; House Bill 2189 status (2025-26 session); City of Philadelphia. Part of Boostpoint’s state labor law series; see also Pennsylvania minimum wage.