The West Virginia
Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly 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. 

$8.75 per hour for most West Virginia employees (as of 2024)

The West Virginia minimum wage applies to all employers who have six or more non-exempt employees working at any one separate and permanent work location. If the state minimum wage doesn’t apply, employers should use the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour as of the date of this article.

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

$2.62 per hour for most employees (as of 2024)

If any employee doesn’t receive an hourly rate with tips that equals West Virginia’s minimum wage of $8.75 per hour, the employer must increase their hourly wage for that week to meet the minimum requirement.

Virginia overtime laws align with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers must pay non-exempt employees at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 hours per work week. An employee's regular rate is calculated by dividing the total pay for employment (except for the statutory exclusions) in any workweek by the total number of hours actually worked to determine the regular rate. 

West Virginia’s meal break statute requires public and private employers to give adult employees at least 20 minutes for meal breaks if they work a shift of six hours or longer. The statute does not apply if the employee can eat while working.

The break length requirement is 20 minutes regardless of how many hours the employee works beyond six, and the employer may give the break at any time during the employee’s work day. In addition, the employer may opt to split the break into shorter rest periods rather than offering all 20 minutes at one time. 

West Virginia employment laws do not require any rest breaks beyond the mandatory meal break. However, the employee must receive pay for any meal break or rest period that lasts 20 minutes or less.

Minors under 16 who work more than 5 consecutive hours must receive a 30-minute meal period. The meal period should start no later than the completion of 5 hours of continuous work.

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Vacation leave
West Virginia does not require employers to provide paid time off to their employees. The employer can choose to offer vacation leave at its discretion. 

Paid Sick Leave
West Virginia does not have a mandatory paid sick leave law for private employers. If the employer decides to offer paid leave, it is responsible for creating a written policy. 

Holidays
West Virginia law doesn’t require private employers to provide paid or unpaid holiday leave. However, an employer must provide up to three hours of unpaid voting leave while polls are open. Employees must provide notice before Election Day if they want to take this leave time.

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West Virginia child labor laws require that a minor must be at least 14 years old to begin working. Minors who are 14 or 15 years old must have parental consent and a work permit issued by the county superintendent of schools or another authorized individual. Employers can ask 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain an age certification to verify their age, but this is not a requirement under state law. 

Minors aged 16 and 17 have no restrictions in scheduling and can work the same hours as adults in West Virginia. However, 14- and 15-year-old children cannot work: 

• Before 7:00 AM or after 9:00 PM when school is not in session during the summer 

• Before 7:00 AM or after 7:00 PM on days when school is in session

• More than eight hours per day on days when school is not in session 

• More than three hours per day on any school day 

• More than 40 hours per week during weeks when school is not in session or more than 18 hours per week when school is in session at least one day of the week 

• During school hours 

All minors under the age of 18 are prohibited from working in a bar and selling, dispensing, or serving alcoholic beverages.

Hiring
The West Virginia Human Rights Act prohibits employers from refusing to hire an employee based on discrimination. The protected characteristics under this law are:

• Color

• Race

• Religion

• National origin

• Ancestry 

• Sex

• Age (being 40 years old or older)

• Disability 

• Blindness 

Employers in West Virginia must report new and re-hired employees to the New Hire Reporting Center program within 14 days after they are hired or return to work. This is the employee information that employers must provide when reporting new hires: 

• Full name

• Address

• Social Security number

• Date of hire

• Date of birth (optional)

Firing
West Virginia is an “at-will” state, which means employers have the right to terminate employees for any reason or without providing a reason so long as the reason is not unlawful. For example, it would be unlawful to fire employees because of a legally protected characteristic (e.g. race, religion, gender) or in retaliation for engaging in a legally protected activity (e.g. making a good faith complaint of sexual harassment). 

Final Paycheck
The West Virginia final paycheck law requires employers to pay workers their final wages on or before the next regular paydate, regardless of whether they resigned or were terminated.