What is the minimum wage in Louisiana?
Per the U.S. Department of Labor, Louisiana is one of five states that doesn’t have a law determining the minimum wage rate. As such, Louisiana employers are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This necessitates paying employees at least $7.25 per hour, equivalent to the Federal minimum wage.
Along with Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina, Louisiana has never adopted an official state minimum wage.
Louisiana minimum wage laws
The minimum wage was introduced nationally by Congress under the FLSA in 1939, in view of stabilizing the economy post-depression. President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw the minimum wage as a means of protecting workers and therefore strengthening the workforce. In his 1933 address at the height of the depression, he noted that “no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.”
The FLSA prohibited child labor, set a limit on working hours and aimed to provide workers with a wage that facilitated “decent living.” The purpose of a minimum wage remains the same today according to legislation: To protect the health and wellbeing of employees while creating a minimum standard of living.
Because it’s beholden to Federal minimum wage laws, Louisiana shares FLSA exemptions. Exemptions apply across a number of industries and demographics, including farmworkers, seasonal and recreational employees and some salaried white-collar workers. The burden of supporting an application of an exemption is on the employer, so it’s crucial that you carefully analyze the terms and conditions of any specific exemption before assuming they apply.
The minimum wage in Louisiana mirrors the Federal minimum wage, which hasn’t changed since July 24, 2009, when it was raised $0.70 from $6.55 to $7.25. The Department of Labor requires that specific notices must be provided to employees to help them understand their rights in the workplace. Compliance varies between companies and industries, so be sure to conduct research to find out which posters your company needs to display to meet compliance requirements.
Louisiana minimum wage for servers and other tipped employees
A tipped employee is anyone who earns in excess of $30 per month in tips. Employers must adhere to Federal law, which dictates that the Louisiana minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour in direct wages. It’s important to note that this minimum wage can only be applied if the combined amount of tips and direct wages is equivalent to the minimum wage.
The minimum wage for tipped employees is lower than the regular minimum wage because employers can claim tip credit. Employers in Louisiana can claim a maximum tip credit of $5.12 per hour, but they must notify employees of the information outlined under the requirements section of Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the FLSA. This includes a stipulation that “all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement.”
A Louisiana business that claims tip credit can implement tip pooling , whereby tipped employees share all gratuities. A valid tip pool can only include employees who customarily receive tips, such as waitresses, waiters, bussers, service bartenders and bellhops. This excludes employees who don’t regularly receive tips, such as janitors, chefs, cooks and dishwashers.
Tip Pooling
A tip pool or service charge system distributes all tips earned in a shift among relevant workers participating in that shift. A 2018 amendment to FLSA clarified that employers, supervisors and managers are not entitled to participate in a tip pool.
If an employer doesn’t claim tip credits, the aforementioned 2018 amendment also notes that employees who don’t regularly receive tips are entitled to a share of tips. However, if you do accept tip credits as a Louisiana employer, only employees who interact with customers are entitled to tips.
Louisiana minimum wage overtime pay
There is no mandate for the overtime minimum wage in Louisiana, so it automatically adopts the Federal FLSA overtime regulations. Most hourly workers in a nonexempt industry in Louisiana who earn under $455 per week are entitled to overtime pay. Some salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay, but many white-collar workers are exempt.
Overtime pay applies for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a single week, and qualifying workers are entitled to time and a half .
To calculate time and a half for employees paid hourly, divide the employees’ wage by half and add this amount to the original figure.
Minimum wage = $7.25
0.5 of $7.25 = $3.63
$7.25 + $3.63 = $10.88 per hour minimum overtime wage
To calculate overtime for a salaried employee, divide their annual age by the 2080 hours they work in a year and use this figure as an hourly rate. Divide this rate by 0.5 and add it to the original figure to get the overtime hourly rate.
Louisiana minimum wage FAQs
What states have a $15 an hour minimum wage?
The proposed Raise the Wage Act 2021 will incrementally increase the Federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025. While Louisiana doesn’t yet benefit from this increase, a number of locations have already implemented $15 an hour as the lowest wage employers can pay employees. New York City and Washington D.C. currently have the minimum wage set to $15 an hour or higher.
What is the minimum wage for a 16-year-old in Louisiana?
Louisiana takes the lead from Federal law with regards to the minimum wage for 16-year-olds. As such, 16-year-olds enrolled in vocational education in Louisiana are entitled to 75% of the minimum wage. Full-time workers aged 16 and 17 are entitled to the Louisiana minimum wage of $7.25, but anyone under age 20 can be paid $4.25 during the first consecutive 90 days of work.
What is a liveable salary in Louisiana?
According to data from the World Population Review, Louisiana’s liveable wage is $48,000 per year. The current minimum wage in Louisiana is equivalent to an annual salary of $15,080, which would put a family of four below the federal poverty line. Washington D.C. has the highest living wage in the U.S., at $67,867 per year.
What is the minimum a salaried employee can make?
The minimum wage for a salaried employee to be exempt from overtime in Louisiana reflects Federal law. As such, a minimum of $455 must be paid each week for a salaried employee to not receive time and a half for hours worked in excess of 40.
What is the federal minimum wage?
There is no set Louisiana minimum wage, which means employers must default to Federal regulations. Both the state and federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which has remained the same since 2009.
