Indiana Labor Law Breaks
Regarding breaks for workers aged 18 and over, Indiana falls back on federal law. Only if it lasts less than 20 minutes must a meal break be paid if an employer wishes to offer one. As long as the employee is entirely relieved of all obligations, breaks longer than 30 minutes are considered meal intervals and do not require payment. For workers under 18 who put in at least 6 hours straight, they are entitled to 1-2 breaks totaling 30 minutes.
Indiana Holiday Pay
The United States does not have a federal law regarding how holidays should be handled. Because of this, no employer is required to pay an employee for time off during a holiday, pay an employee more for working on a holiday, or allow an employee mandatory time off for a holiday. The state of Indiana also does not have a state law requiring or mandating holiday pay and time off.
Under state law when an employee works on a holiday, he or she will be paid the same wages he or she would have received otherwise. Companies and businesses have the right to state which holidays if any, they allow employees to have off. Employers also may choose to pay employees for any holiday vacation.
Under federal law, no federal holidays are mandatory to be paid or allow holiday vacation. Federal agencies and local post offices are the only businesses for which federal holidays are mandatory. Under United States law, companies and businesses can legally be in business every day of the year. The days for which a company or business is open are at the discretion of the employer. Many departments such as hospitals, police departments, and fire departments are required to be open every day of the year.
Indiana Pregnancy Laws
Currently, the United States has two federal laws for pregnant employees. However, Indiana does not have any personal state laws for private company pregnant employees. Instead, Indiana only has laws for government agency employees. Under this law, all employees who are pregnant, are on maternity leave, or are on leave for medical problems in relation to pregnancy are allowed a maximum of one year of leave that will protect the employee’s current job.
The federal laws for pregnancy include the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The latter is in place for companies and businesses with more than fifty employees in a seventy-five-mile radius. The Family and Medical Leave Act designates up to twelve months of maternity leave or family that must be used consecutively and not spaced over several months. The specific law allows adoptive parents time to bond with their new child and new mothers time to care for their newborns as well as care for elderly parents, hospitalization, and child illness.
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act allows companies and businesses with fifteen or more employees to have job-protected leave. This act was originally an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Indiana Minimum Wages
The federal minimum wage requirement recently changed from over six dollars to seven dollars and twenty-five cents. Because of this change, the state of Indiana also changed its minimum wage to match the federal standard. According to Indiana law employees who are tipped regularly are legally eligible to be paid less than minimum wage as tips often make up the payment difference.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of the federal government sets the federal minimum wage, which can be increased each year. If the federal minimum wage increases then Indiana law must increase its minimum wage for the state.