North Dakota Labor Law Breaks
Employers in North Dakota are required by law to give employees a 30-minute unpaid meal break when they are scheduled to work longer than five hours and two or more employees are on duty. ND Administrative Code 46-02-07-02 (5). Other breaks are not needed to be provided by the employer. However, if they do, any breaks that are shorter than thirty (30) minutes must be compensated.
North Dakota Minimum Wage
Before the federal government increased the federal minimum wage to seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour, the state of North Dakota had a state minimum wage of six dollars and fifty-five cents. Now after the federal increase, North Dakota has a minimum wage that is equal to the federal standard.
Some states choose to raise their minimum wages by five cents or more each year to compensate for rises in mortgage costs and expense costs, but not all states do. Many choose to wait until the federal government requires them to increase their wages. North Dakota is one of these states.
Each state is allowed to have any kind of minimum wage it desires, as long as it is above the federal minimum. The state of Washington currently has the highest minimum wage of eight dollars and fifty-five cents with other states closely behind with eight dollars or just over eight dollars.
By law, employers are not legally permitted to pay their employees less than the designated amount. However, an employer is legally able to pay an employee less than minimum wage if he or she receives tips on a regular basis. Tipped employees in North Dakota can lawfully be paid as little as three dollars per hour as any acquired tips make up the wage decrease.
Family Leave
The federal government created an act called the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 that allows employees to take necessary leave for medical or familial purposes. Under this act individuals cannot legally be terminated from their employment while on leave or because of the necessity to take leave.
The Family and Medical Leave Act requires employers to allow employees a maximum of twelve weeks each year. These weeks must be taken consecutively and cannot be spread throughout the year. An employer however does have the right to deny an employee’s return to work earlier than twelve weeks or a request to work part-time before the twelve weeks has concluded.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is also paired with the Pregnancy Discrimination Act that provided discrimination protection for expectant employees. Under both of these acts individuals cannot be terminated because of pregnancy or be treated lesser.
The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employers to hire a temporary employee until the employee on leave returns and is required to terminate that temporary employee. An employee on leave can only be terminated if he or she would otherwise have been working and terminated due to financial necessities for company or business.
Sick Pay
North Dakota currently does not have a law in regards to sick pay. This means that an employer is not legally bound to pay an employee for time off taken for illness purposes. Many businesses and companies do however offer paid sick leave in most benefit packages. Because sick leave is often abused, many companies and businesses have chosen to eliminate sick leave and instead provide paid time off. This kind of time off is to be taken for any purpose and includes illness purposes.