A quick reference for Delaware private employers with hourly staff; details follow below.
EZTime labor rule alerts flag overtime and missed rest periods before payroll.
| Topic | Rule |
|---|---|
| Minimum wage | $15.00 per hour, in effect since January 1, 2025 (Delaware Division of Industrial Affairs) |
| Tipped employees | Cash wage of at least $2.23 per hour; tips must make up the rest (19 Del. C. ch. 9) |
| Overtime | Weekly overtime over 40 hours under the federal FLSA; no daily overtime rule on the state poster |
| Meal break | 30 consecutive unpaid minutes for 7.5+ consecutive hours (19 Del. C. § 707) |
| Rest breaks | Not required for adult employees |
| Paid leave | Delaware Paid Leave benefits began January 1, 2026 |
| Payday | At least once a month, within 7 days after the pay period closes (19 Del. C. § 1102) |
| Final pay | Later of the next regular payday or 3 business days after the last day worked (§ 1103) |
| Minors | Work permits for workers under 18; hour limits for ages 14-15 (19 Del. C. ch. 5) |
Delaware's minimum wage is $15.00 per hour. The rate took effect on January 1, 2025, and it is still the rate in 2026, according to the Division of Industrial Affairs wage and hour page. Section 902 of Title 19, Chapter 9 of the Delaware Code sets the rate and does not include an automatic yearly adjustment after 2025. If the federal minimum wage ever rises above the state rate, the state minimum automatically matches the federal figure. As of this review, no 2027 increase has been announced on the official state pages, so plan on $15.00 until the Department of Labor says otherwise.
The state law does not cover every worker. The Delaware labor law poster lists exempt groups that include agricultural workers, domestic workers in private homes, outside commission salespeople, bona fide executive, administrative and professional employees, and volunteers for educational, religious or nonprofit organizations. Federal law can still apply to some of these workers, so check both before you treat someone as exempt.
A tipped employee in Delaware is a worker who customarily receives more than $30 a month in tips. You may pay these employees a cash wage as low as $2.23 per hour, as long as tips bring total pay up to at least $15.00 for every hour worked. Delaware's cash wage is higher than the federal tipped cash wage, so the state amount applies. Employers may not keep employees' tips except as the law allows. Tip pooling is allowed under certain conditions, but a pool contribution is capped at 15% of the employee's actual tips.
Delaware has no general youth or training wage. Under § 906, lower rates for learners and apprentices are possible only through a Department of Labor regulation.
The Delaware labor law poster and wage and hour pages do not set a separate daily overtime rule. For most private employers, overtime follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act: non-exempt employees earn at least one and a half times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Working more than eight hours in one day does not, by itself, trigger overtime. Our FLSA overtime guide covers the federal rules in detail, and the overtime calculator helps you check a paycheck.
Delaware is one of a small number of states with a meal break law for adults. Under 19 Del. C. § 707, an employee who works 7.5 or more consecutive hours must get an unpaid meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes. The break has to start after the first two hours of work and end before the last two hours.
The rule does not apply where a collective bargaining agreement or other written employer-employee agreement provides otherwise, or to certain certified school professionals. The Secretary of Labor can also grant exemptions, for example where fewer than five employees are on a shift at one location or only one employee can perform the job. Violations carry civil penalties of $1,000 to $5,000 each.
Delaware does not require paid rest breaks for adults; the U.S. DOL rest period table does not list Delaware. Minors under 18 have their own break rule: they may not work more than five continuous hours without a non-working period of at least 30 minutes.
The Delaware Department of Labor pages reviewed for this guide do not describe a general paid sick leave mandate for private employers. What Delaware does have is Delaware Paid Leave, a state paid family and medical leave insurance program. Payroll contributions began on January 1, 2025, and employees began filing claims for benefits on January 1, 2026.
Coverage depends on employer size:
The program covers up to 12 weeks a year to care for a new child, and up to 6 weeks every 24 months for an employee's own serious health condition, care of a family member with a serious health condition, or needs related to a family member's overseas military deployment. The combined maximum is 12 weeks per year. Benefits replace up to 80% of wages, capped at $900 per week. To qualify, an employee needs at least one year of employment and 1,250 hours worked for one employer. The contribution rate is less than 1% of wages, and employers may require employees to pay up to half of it. The employer information page has the regulations, a contribution calculator and the required notice of employee rights.
Under 19 Del. C. § 1102, employers must set regular paydays in advance, at least once each calendar month, and pay all wages due within seven days after the close of the pay period in which they were earned. If a payday falls on a non-workday, pay on the workday before.
Final pay. When an employee quits, resigns, is discharged, suspended or laid off, § 1103 makes final wages due on the later of two dates: the next regular payday, or three business days after the last day worked. An employer that fails to pay without reasonable grounds for a dispute can owe liquidated damages of 10% of the unpaid wages for each day the failure continues (Sundays and legal holidays excluded), up to an amount equal to the unpaid wages.
Pay statements and notices. Section 1108 applies to employers with more than three employees. At hire, tell employees in writing their rate of pay and the day, hour and place of payment, and give written notice of any changes. Each payment must come with a statement showing wages due, the pay period, and the total of deductions; for hourly workers it must also show total hours.
Delaware's child labor law (19 Del. C. ch. 5) sets a minimum working age of 14, and employers must keep a validated work permit on file for every worker under 18. A new permit is needed when a minor changes employers. Permits come through school officials or the Department of Labor; the child labor page links to the permit form and the Child Labor Law booklet.
Ages 14 and 15 may not work during school hours and are limited to:
Ages 16 and 17 may not exceed 12 hours of school and work combined in a day, and must have at least 8 consecutive hours off from both work and school in each 24-hour period. All minors under 18 need a 30-minute non-working period after five continuous hours of work. Hazardous jobs are off-limits under both state and federal law.
Under § 907 of the minimum wage law, keep each employee's name, address and occupation, rate of pay, amount paid each pay period, and hours worked each day and each workweek, for at least three years. The wage payment law in Chapter 11 also requires three-year retention of wage and hour records. Section 908 requires you to post the Department-approved summary of the law where employees normally pass. Download the current Delaware labor law poster, and display the Delaware Paid Leave notice of employee rights if you are covered.
EZTime gives Delaware teams one place to track hours and stay on top of the rules above. Employees clock in with the GPS mobile time clock and geofencing, NFC tags, a shared tablet kiosk, or biometric clocks. Managers build schedules with shift templates and approve shift swaps in the scheduling software, get overtime and break alerts before a problem shows up on a paycheck, and track PTO and sick-leave balances. At the end of each period, payroll-ready Excel and PDF exports work with any payroll software. Plans start from $2 per employee per month, with a 14-day trial; see pricing.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change; check the Delaware Department of Labor or an employment attorney. Last reviewed November 2026.
Delaware’s minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, the rate in effect since January 1, 2025. No 2027 increase had been announced on official state pages as of November 2026.
Employers may pay tipped employees a cash wage of at least $2.23 per hour, as long as tips bring total pay to at least $15.00 for every hour worked.
Yes. Employees who work 7.5 or more consecutive hours must get an unpaid meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes, starting after the first two hours and ending before the last two hours of work, unless an exemption applies.
Final wages are due on the later of the next regular payday or three business days after the employee’s last day worked, whether the employee quit or was let go.
Employers with 10 or more employees participate in Delaware Paid Leave, the state family and medical leave insurance program; those with 10-24 employees are covered for parental leave only. Benefits became available on January 1, 2026.