The Louisiana Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates. 

$7.25 per hour for most employees (as of 2024)

Louisiana follows the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25. Local cities tend to follow this wage amount and do not set their own higher rates.

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate employers are legally obligated to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips. 

$2.13 per hour for most tipped employees (as of 2024)*

*Employees are only required to pay this sum if the employee’s tip amount brings their total earnings up to the federal minimum wage. 

Louisiana does not have overtime laws. Employers must follow the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires non-exempt employees to receive paid time and a half for every hour worked over 40 hours within a workweek.

Only minors under 16 years of age are required to receive meal periods after working 5 consecutive hours. There are no state laws regarding meal or rest breaks for adult employees, and federal law doesn’t require employers to provide them. 

However, if they choose to, breaks that are 20 minutes or less must be paid. Generally, meal periods do not need to be paid if employees are free to do what they want.

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Vacation leave
Louisiana does not require employers to provide paid time off to their employees. 

Paid Sick Leave
Louisiana has no state laws requiring private employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave.

Holidays
Louisiana does not require private employers to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave.

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Laws for minors under 14:
In Louisiana, minors under 14 years old are generally prohibited from working. There are a few exceptions, including working for:

• Entertainment

• Family business

• Agricultural work

• Newspaper delivery

Specific laws for minors 14-15 years old:

• Able to work up to 3 hours per day, 18 hours per week, between 7 AM- 7 PM when school is in session. 

• Able to work up to 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week, between 7 AM- 9 PM when school is not in session. 

Specific laws for minors 16-17 years old:

• No restrictions on hours. 

• Prohibited from working hazardous jobs under federal law that include explosives, motor vehicle operation, and certain types of machinery. 

  • Federal job restriction examples:

    • Operating power-driven machinery

    • Mining

    • Logging

    • Handling explosives

    • Working with radioactive substances

    • Jobs in meatpacking

    • Jobs in bakery machines and manufacturing 

All minors must receive an 8-hour rest break at the end of each work day before their next day of work begins.

Hiring
Louisiana prohibits hiring discrimination based on the following protected characteristics:

• Race

• Color

• Sex

• Age

• National origin

• Disability

• Pregnancy

• Genetic information

• Sexual orientation

• Political affiliation 

Firing
Louisiana employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and no reason at all provided the reason is not unlawful. Employers cannot fire an employee for discrimination, retaliation, employee contracts, or collective bargaining agreement reasons.