Indiana Employment Law

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines the workweek as a fixed and recurring period of 168 hours comprised of seven consecutive 24-hour periods that do not need to coincide with the calendar week. It is adjustable only if the change is designed to be permanent. Each week is considered on its own for purposes of calculating overtime. The hours of two or more weeks may not be averaged.

Minor Workers

Effective July 1, 2018, the below apply only to a child who is at least fourteen (14) years of age and less than sixteen (16) years of age:

• • The child may not work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on a day that precedes a school day or after 10 p.m. on a day that does not precede a school day. However, the child may work until 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.
  • The child may not work: (A) more than three (3) hours on a school day other than a Friday; (B) more than eighteen (18) hours in a school week; (C) more than eight (8) hours on a non-school day; or (D) more than forty (40) hours in a non-school week.

Both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Indiana Minimum Wage Law generally require employers to pay employees 1½ times their regular rate of pay (“overtime compensation”) when employees work more than forty (40) hours during a work week.

Indiana state law does not generally require employers to provide rest breaks, meal breaks, or breaks for other purposes to adult employees. Minor employees (under 18 years of age) who work six or more hours in a shift must be given one or two breaks totaling at least 30 minutes. These breaks may be taken at any point during the minor’s shift.

Indiana Administrative Code requires break logs to be maintained by the employer to document all breaks provided to minor employees. Certain other categories of workers, such as airline pilots, truck drivers, and workers covered by a union collective bargaining agreement may be entitled to mandatory breaks under other applicable regulations or by contract.

Breast Feeding Break

All employers with twenty-five or more employees must, to the extent reasonably possible, provide a private location, other than a toilet stall, where an employee can express milk during any time away from the employee’s assigned duties. Such employers must also, to the extent reasonably possible, provide a cold storage space for employees to keep expressed milk, or allow employees to provide their own portable refrigerator for such a purpose.