The Indiana
labor law guide
The Indiana employment laws every business owner should know
Wages and breaks
The current minimum wage law in Indiana is $7.25, according to Indiana minimum wage laws.
The minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13.
Illinois law requires employers to pay non-exempt employees 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
The federal overtime rule stipulates that the minimum salary requirement for administrative, professional, and executive exemptions is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year. Workers making at least this salary level may be eligible for overtime based on their job duties.
If an employee volunteers to work a seventh consecutive day in a calendar week, they must be paid their overtime rate for all hours worked that day.
There are no state laws regarding breaks or meal periods, so federal law applies. The federal law does not require employers to provide breaks, but if they choose to do so, breaks less than 20 minutes must be paid. Meal periods do not need to be paid as long as the employees are free to do as they wish.
Employers are required to provide either one or two breaks totaling 30 minutes to minor employees that are scheduled to work 6 or more consecutive hours.
Final paychecks in Indiana
Indiana law requires employers to pay all due wages to employees who quit or were fired or laid off by the next regularly scheduled payday.
If an employee leaves and the employer does not know the whereabouts of the employee, the employer must either pay the employee within 10 days after the employee has demanded final wages or when the employer receives an address where the final wages can be sent.
Indiana child labor laws
14- and 15-year-old minors
Minors 14 and 15 years of age may have a maximum number of 3 hours worked per school day and 8 hours per non-school day, according to the wage and hour laws in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
They may work a maximum of 18 hours in a school week and 40 hours in a non-school week.
They may not work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. during the school year and until 9 p.m. from June 1 until Labor Day.
They must have at least one day off per workweek.
16-year-old minors
Minors 16 years of age may work a maximum of 8 hours a day and 30 hours per week.
They may not work more than 6 days in a workweek.
They may not work before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m. on a day followed by a school day.
With written permission, they may work up to 40 hours per school week, 9 hours per non-school day, 48 hours per non-school week, and until midnight on nights not followed by a school day.
17-year-old minors
Minors 17 years of age are subject to the same time restrictions as 16-year-old minors when school is in session, except with written permission they may work until 1 a.m. on nights followed by a school day.
However, they may not work later than 11:30 p.m. two nights in a row or more than two nights in a week.
During non-school days, they may work up to 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week with written permission. There are no limits on the times of day during which they may work on non-school days.
Leave requirements
Indiana law does not require employers provide employees with paid or unpaid sick leave but must comply with their own established policies in their employee handbook if they choose to implement one.
Indiana does not require employers to provide leave, but employers may be required to provide an employee unpaid medical leave in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act or other federal laws.
Employers are not required to provide bereavement leave.
Employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid vacation leave but must comply with their own established policies if they choose to implement one.
Employers may deny employees payment for accrued vacation leave upon separation or disqualify them from receiving payment for the leave if they fail to comply with specific requirements if it is in their contract.
Employers may cap the amount of vacation leave an employee can accrue.
Employers do not have to pay employees for time spent responding to a jury summons, but employees cannot be terminated or otherwise penalized for doing so.
Employers with 10 or fewer employees may request that an employee’s jury service be postponed if another employee is already performing jury service.
Private employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid time off for holidays.
Employers are not required to provide voting leave.
Employers in Indiana must allow their employees to take 15 days of paid military leave when they are called to serve, including for drills. Employees are eligible for the leave if they are a member of the Indiana national guard, a member of a reserve component, or retired from the US armed forces.
The military leave is in addition to the employee’s vacation.
After their service, the employee is entitled to return to their job with the seniority, vacation, and other employment benefits they would have accrued if they had not taken the leave.
Employers who have 50 or more employees must allow team members with family in the military to take up to 10 days of leave per year during the 30 days before active duty orders, while the family member is on leave, or during the 30 days after the family member’s active duty is over.
Hiring and firing
Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of: Race, Color, Age, Sex, Sexual orientation, Gender, Gender identity, Religion, National origin, Pregnancy, Genetic information, including family medical history, Physical or mental disability, Child or spousal support withholding, Military or veteran status, Citizenship and/or immigration status.
Additionally, Indiana prohibits discrimination based on the following: Off-duty tobacco use, child or spousal support withholding, and wage garnishment for consumer debt.
An employer must allow an employee with a physical or mental disability to be accompanied by a service animal who has been trained to assist the employee.
Indiana is an employment-at-will state, which means that without a written employee contract, employees can be terminated for any reason at any time, provided that the reason is not discriminatory and that the employer is not retaliating against the employee for a rightful action.
Regarding employment and payroll data, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and others, you must:
For at least 3 years: keep payroll records, certificates, agreements, notices, collective bargaining agreements, employment contracts, and sales and purchase records. Also keep completed copies of each employee’s I-9 for three years after they are hired. If the employee works longer than three years, hold on to the form for at least one year after the employee leaves.
For at least 2 years: Keep basic employment and earning records like timecards, wage-rate tables, shipping and billing records, and records of additions to or deductions from wages. Also keep the records that show why you may pay different wages to employees of different sexes, such as wage rates, job evaluations, seniority and merit systems, and collective bargaining agreements.
For at least 1 year: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says employers should keep all employment records for at least one year from the employee’s date of termination.
Other record-keeping laws that may apply to you:
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, you need to keep records of job-related injuries and illnesses for five years. But some records, like those covering toxic substance exposure, have to be kept for 30 years.
You must keep files of benefit plans and seniority and merit systems while they are in effect and for at least a year after they end. You must also retain summary descriptions and annual reports of benefits plans for six years.
If your company is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, you must also retain relevant records of leaves, notices, policies, and more for three years.
Additional laws that may apply to you.
Indiana allows employers to test their applicants and employees for drugs and alcohol. Childcare facilities and public works contractors have specific drug-testing requirements.
Indiana does not currently have state COBRA requirements. Indiana’s mini-COBRA would only become effective if the state legislature adopts a mechanism to offset the fiscal impact of the law.
Employers may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for filing a complaint or testifying in a proceeding regarding workplace safety.
In addition, employers may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for opposing or participating in an investigation or proceeding regarding fraudulent claims or other types of fraud against the state.
Employers also may not discharge, discriminate, or retaliate against an employee who in good faith reports or participates in an investigation of or proceeding regarding alleged physical or financial abuse of an endangered adult.
Employers that have a public contract may not discharge or discriminate against an employee for reporting a violation of state or federal law or rule, a violation of an ordinance, or the misuse of public resources.
Indiana requires a criminal background check be conducted on all child care staff members who are employed by a child care provider, which includes licensed homes, licensed centers, unlicensed registered ministries, legally licensed exempt homes, legally licensed exempt centers and in-home (nanny care) providers. Background check requirements apply to any staff member who is employed by a child care provider for compensation, including contract employees, volunteers and self-employed individuals; whose activities involve the care or supervision of children; or who has unsupervised access to children.
Employers are prohibited from asking applicants if their criminal records have been sealed or expunged. Applicants may deny arrests or convictions that have been sealed or expunged.
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View the resources available to Indiana business owners and workers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in our state-by-state COVID-19 Resource Center.
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This summary is not qualified legal advice. Laws are always subject to change, and they can vary from municipality to municipality. It’s up to you to make sure you’re compliant with all laws and statutes in your area. If you need more compliance help, we recommend consulting with a qualified lawyer, checking with your local government agencies, or signing up for Homebase to get help from our certified HR Pros.