Compare 22 covered U.S. jurisdictions. A side-by-side comparison by state of the wage-and-hour rules that go beyond the federal baseline — the minimum wage relative to the federal floor, daily overtime, meal and rest breaks, final-pay timing and penalties, pay frequency, wage-statement contents, the employee-vs-contractor test, and tip credit.
Alabama has no minimum wage, overtime, or general payday or final-pay statute of its own, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets the wage floor and overtime rule for covered workers, and Alabama law voids county and city mandates requiring employers to provide wages or benefits beyond what state or federal law requires, subject to exceptions for public employment and for a county's or city's own employees and contractors.
Arizona sets its own minimum wage and adjusts it every year for the cost of living, gives workers a partial tip credit regime and short final-pay deadlines, and backs unpaid wage claims with multiplier damages recoverable in court or through an agency claim.
California is a high-protection wage-and-hour state — an indexed minimum wage well above the federal floor, daily overtime, mandatory paid breaks, and immediate final pay backed by a waiting-time penalty.
Colorado's indexed minimum wage is $15.16 an hour in 2026, with higher local rates in Denver, Edgewater, Boulder County, and the City of Boulder; covered employees receive time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek, 12 hours in a workday, or 12 consecutive hours, as well as paid rest periods and a meal period on shifts over five hours.
Statutory 56-hour weekly overtime threshold for agricultural employees (C.R.S. § 8-6-120(2), as reenacted by 2026 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 84, § 1) effective — Beginning January 1, 2027, an agricultural employer must pay overtime for time worked over 56 hours in a workweek, except for an agricultural employee principally engaged in the range production of livestock on the open range, a decision-making manager, or a family member of a family owner.
Delaware requires a minimum wage of at least $15.00 an hour, leaves overtime for covered employers to the federal forty-hour workweek rule, requires an unpaid meal break of at least 30 minutes on shifts of 7½ or more consecutive hours, and makes final wages due on the later of the next regular payday or three business days after the last day worked.
Florida sets a single voter-enacted minimum wage indexed above the federal floor — $14.00 an hour, rising to $15.00 on September 30, 2026 — but adds almost no other state wage-and-hour rules: overtime, breaks, final-pay timing, pay frequency, and wage statements are all left to federal law, and a worker must send a 15-day pre-suit notice before suing for unpaid minimum wages.
Most Georgia workers are owed the federal minimum wage and federal overtime, because Georgia's own minimum wage statute sets a lower figure and steps aside wherever a higher federal minimum wage applies.
Illinois is a high-regulation wage state: a $15.00 minimum wage (higher still in Chicago and suburban Cook County), overtime after 40 hours in a workweek, mandated meal periods and a weekly day of rest, final pay by the next payday with no vacation forfeiture, and compounding penalties enforced through the state labor department or the courts.
The general Maryland minimum wage is $15.00 an hour, with 85% of that rate allowed for employees under 18; overtime is counted by the workweek rather than by the day; large retail employers must provide shift breaks; and final wages are due by the next regular payday, or the preceding workday if that payday is a nonworkday.
Massachusetts is one of the most employee-protective wage-and-hour states: the minimum wage is a fixed $15.00 an hour with a statutory floor that can never fall below $.50 above the federal rate, overtime is owed weekly after 40 hours, a 30-minute meal interval is required after six hours, final pay is due on the day of discharge, independent-contractor status is judged by a strict three-part ABC test, and unpaid or late wages carry mandatory treble damages plus attorney's fees under the Wage Act.
Michigan sets an above-federal minimum wage — $13.73 an hour, rising to $15.00 on January 1, 2027 and then indexed to inflation — with weekly-only overtime, no adult meal-or-rest-break mandate, next-payday final pay enforced administratively through a 10% annual penalty rather than an automatic waiting-time penalty, the economic-reality test for worker status, and a tipped cash wage that rises from 40% to 50% of the minimum wage by 2031 — preserving but narrowing the partial tip credit rather than eliminating it.
Nevada employers must pay at least $12 an hour, or the federal minimum wage if it is higher, with no tip credit, owe daily overtime after 8 hours to workers paid less than one and one-half times the minimum wage, must provide meal and paid rest periods, and must pay discharged workers immediately. If final pay is not made within 3 days after it becomes due for a discharge or a temporary layoff, or on its due date after a resignation, the worker's wages continue for up to 30 days.
New Jersey's minimum wage is CPI-indexed above the federal floor — $15.92 an hour in 2026, with a $6.05 cash wage for tipped workers — overtime is weekly-only at time-and-a-half, there is no general adult break mandate (domestic workers excepted), final pay is due the next regular payday, wages must be paid at least twice a month with an itemized statement, and worker status is decided by the strict statutory ABC test that presumes employees and can expose a misclassifier to 200 percent liquidated damages.
New York is a high-protection wage-and-hour state — a minimum wage well above the federal floor and tiered by region, weekly pay for manual workers, detailed WTPA wage statements, and 100% liquidated-damages exposure — with worker status decided by the common-law control test.
North Carolina ties its minimum wage to the federal $7.25 floor and generally preempts local wage ordinances, adds no state overtime tier or adult break mandate, and requires final pay only by the next regular payday — but its Wage and Hour Act backs unpaid-wage claims with presumptive double (liquidated) damages, attorneys' fees, and a two-year deadline, tests worker status by economic reality rather than a common-law control test, and lets employers take the full federal tip credit while capping tip-pool contributions at 15%.
Ohio's constitution sets a CPI-indexed minimum wage — $11.00 an hour in 2026, $5.50 for tipped workers — above the federal floor; overtime is weekly-only, there is no adult break mandate, final pay is due the next regular payday with a 6%-or-$200 late-pay penalty, wages must be paid at least semimonthly with an itemized pay stub, and worker status is decided by the FLSA economic-realities test.
Oregon sets a three-tier regional minimum wage that is adjusted for inflation every July 1, requires paid rest periods and duty-free meal periods, forbids any tip credit, and backs late final pay with penalty wages of up to 30 days.
Pennsylvania keeps its minimum wage pinned to the federal $7.25 floor and adds no daily-overtime or adult-break mandate, but its Wage Payment and Collection Law is unusually employee-friendly on the back end: final wages are due the next regular payday, and wages left unpaid for 30 days can trigger a 25%-or-$500 liquidated-damages remedy when no good-faith dispute accounts for the nonpayment, plus mandatory attorney's fees.
Texas is a low-regulation, federal-floor wage-and-hour state — it adopts the $7.25 federal minimum wage, imposes no state overtime or break mandate, fixes final-pay deadlines by statute, and decides worker status by the common-law right-of-control test. Texas also criminalizes hiring or continuing to employ a worker with intent to avoid paying wages and failing to pay those wages after demand.
Utah's minimum wage is set by Labor Commission rule at $7.25 an hour and is capped by statute at the federal minimum wage, overtime comes from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Labor Commission's meal and rest period rule covers only minor employees, wages must be paid at least semimonthly (monthly for employees hired on a yearly salary), and final pay after an employer-initiated separation is due within 24 hours.
Virginia sets its own minimum wage above the federal floor, requires overtime by the 40-hour workweek, mandates detailed pay statements, allows a tip credit against the wage owed, and lets underpaid workers recover liquidated or triple damages, while the sections cited here impose no meal or rest break requirement.
Washington sets a minimum wage that is adjusted for inflation every year and sits well above the federal floor, requires covered employees to be paid overtime after forty hours in a workweek subject to a statutory exemption list, mandates meal and rest periods, bars any tip credit, and backs wage claims with agency citations, attorney fees, and double damages where the employer withheld wages wilfully and with intent to deprive.
