Pennsylvania Labor Laws
An employer guide for 2026

Pennsylvania labor laws at a glance

Pennsylvania keeps the $7.25 federal minimum wage but layers its own Minimum Wage Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law and Child Labor Act on top. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh add local paid sick leave rules. Here is a quick summary for employers with hourly staff.

EZTime labor rule alerts flag overtime and missed rest periods before payroll.

Pennsylvania minimum wage

The Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) states that the Pennsylvania minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, matching the federal rate; the U.S. DOL state table lists the same figure. Lawmakers have debated an increase: in March 2026 the state House passed H.B. 2189, which would raise the minimum to $15 an hour, but according to the Governor's office the bill had not passed the Senate and was not law. Until a change is enacted, $7.25 remains the floor. Check L&I before planning 2027 budgets.

Tipped employees

Pennsylvania defines a tipped employee as one who customarily and regularly receives more than $135 a month in tips. Employers may pay these workers a cash wage of $2.83 per hour and take a tip credit for the rest, but tips plus wages must reach at least $7.25 for every hour, and the employer covers any shortfall. L&I's overtime and tipped worker rules also govern tip pools:

• If anyone in the pool is paid a tip-credited wage below $7.25, only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips may share in it.
• If everyone in the pool earns at least $7.25 an hour, tipped and non-tipped employees may share.
• Managers, supervisors and employers may never take tips from a pool, although managers may keep tips for service they provide entirely by themselves.

Overtime

Non-exempt employees must be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. Pennsylvania has no daily overtime rule. L&I's guidance highlights two calculation points that often trip up employers:

• Salaried non-exempt workers: the regular rate is total weekly pay divided by 40 hours. For example, $500 a week works out to a $12.50 regular rate.
• Bonuses and commissions: amounts paid in a week are included in that week's regular rate before overtime is calculated.

Executive, administrative and professional employees paid on a salary above the applicable threshold are exempt; see our FLSA overtime guide. The overtime calculator handles the regular-rate math for you. Under the Wage Payment and Collection Law, overtime earned in one pay period must be included with wages for the next pay period.

Meal and rest breaks

According to L&I's wage FAQs, adult employees 18 and older are not entitled to breaks under Pennsylvania law. Minors are different: workers ages 14 through 17 must receive a meal period of at least 30 minutes on or before five consecutive hours of work. The U.S. DOL meal break table also notes a 30-minute meal period after five hours for seasonal farm workers. When you do give short breaks to adults, federal hours-worked rules treat rest periods of usually 20 minutes or less as paid time.

Paid sick leave and other leave

There is no Pennsylvania law that requires private employers to pay employees for time not worked, so sick leave, vacation and holiday pay depend on your own policy or contract. If you have a policy, you must follow it. Holiday pay is not required. Two cities do require sick leave:

• Philadelphia: employers with 10 or more employees must provide paid sick leave, and employers with nine or fewer must provide unpaid sick leave. Employees earn one hour for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year, according to the City of Philadelphia.
• Pittsburgh: under the city's Paid Sick Days Act guidelines in effect from January 1, 2026, covered employees accrue at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked in the city. Employers with 15 or more employees must allow at least 72 hours a year, and smaller employers at least 48 hours. Check the city's guidelines for how those hours must be paid.

The PTO accrual calculator helps you model either city's accrual rate.

Paydays and final paychecks

The Wage Payment and Collection Law requires wages to be paid on regular paydays designated in advance. The gap between the end of a pay period and payday generally may not exceed the time set by contract, the customary lag in the trade, or 15 days. At hiring, employers must tell each worker when and where they will be paid, their pay rate and any fringe benefits. Fringe benefits and wage supplements are due within 10 days after they are required to be paid, or within 60 days after a proper claim. When wages remain unpaid more than 30 days past the regular payday, an employee may be entitled to liquidated damages of 25 percent of the unpaid wages or $500, whichever is greater.

For final pay, L&I's FAQs say all wages earned must be paid by the next scheduled payday after an employee quits, is laid off or is fired. Each pay period, employers must provide a pay stub showing hours worked, rate of pay, gross wages, tax deductions, other authorized deductions and the pay period's start and end dates.

Child labor hours and work permits

The Pennsylvania Child Labor Act requires work permits for minors under 18, issued by the issuing officer of the minor's school district. For minors under 16, a parent or guardian must also give written permission acknowledging the job duties and hours. Hour limits:

Minors must also receive a 30-minute meal period on or before five consecutive hours of work. The U.S. DOL child labor table compares these rules with federal limits.

Recordkeeping and posters

L&I notes that employers are required to keep wage records for three years, so accurate time records are your best defense in a wage claim. The time card calculator is useful for quick checks.

L&I's mandatory postings page lists the posters Pennsylvania employers need, including the Minimum Wage Law poster (LLC-1), the Abstract of the Equal Pay Law (LLC-8), the Unemployment Compensation notice (UC-700) and the Workers' Compensation posting (LIBC-500). Employers of minors must also post the Abstract of the Child Labor Act (LLC-5) and Hours of Work for Minors (LLC-17).

One more item to watch: L&I's Labor Law Compliance page notes that Act 101 of 2026 was signed on October 22, 2026 and takes effect December 21, 2026, and that the department is still assessing enforcement and compliance requirements. Check that page for updates before year-end.

How EZTime helps Pennsylvania employers

EZTime gives Pennsylvania businesses one place to capture time and keep the records these rules depend on. Employees clock in with the GPS mobile time clock and geofencing, NFC tags, a shared tablet kiosk or biometric clocks. Managers build rosters with shift templates and approve shift swaps in the scheduling software, while overtime and break alerts flag problems before a shift ends. Minor-specific alerts help you give the 30-minute meal before the fifth hour and keep teens inside their permitted hours. PTO and sick-leave balances update automatically, and payroll-ready Excel and PDF exports work with any payroll software. Plans start from $2 per employee per month, with a 14-day trial.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change; check the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor Law Compliance or an employment attorney. Last reviewed November 2026.