The Delaware Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates.

As of 2024, the minimum wage is $13.25 per hour for most employees.

Starting January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage will be $15.00 for most employees.

Delaware has a state-set minimum wage. Local cities tend to follow this wage amount and do not set their own higher rates.

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Tipped minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate employers are legally obligated to pay employees who earn a significant portion of their income through tips.

$2.23 per hour for most tipped employees (as of 2024)

If an employee doesn’t earn enough tips to meet the state’s minimum wage, an employer is obligated to pay the difference. Delaware law allows employers to claim tip credit and permits tip pools under certain circumstances; however, the pool cannot exceed 15% of the primary direct service employee’s actual tips and the employer receives no portion of the employee tips.

Delaware’s overtime laws are based on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires non-exempt employees to receive paid time and a half their regular rate of pay for every hour worked over 40 hours within a workweek.

Delaware wage and hour laws generally require employers to grant a meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes to nonexempt employees who work 7 1/2 or more consecutive hours. The meal break may be unpaid, except under rare circumstances. Meal breaks must be given sometime after the first two (2) hours of work and before the last two (2) hours of work. This rule does not apply when:

• The employee is a professional employee certified by Delaware’s State Board of Education and employed by a local school board to work directly with children.

• There is a collective bargaining agreement or other employer-employee written agreement that provides otherwise.

The Secretary of Labor has issued rules granting exemptions when:

• Compliance would adversely affect public safety

• Only one employee may perform the duties of a position

• An employer has fewer than five employees on a shift at one location (the exception would only apply to that shift).

• The continuous nature of an employer’s operations, such as chemical production or research experiments, requires employees to respond to urgent or unusual conditions at all times, and the employees are compensated for their meal breaks.

Where exemptions are allowed, employees must be allowed to eat meals at their workstations or other authorized locations and use restroom facilities as reasonably necessary.

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Vacation leave
Delaware does not require employers to provide paid time off to their employees. The employer can choose to offer vacation leave at their discretion. 

Paid Sick Leave
As of 2024, Delaware does not require employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. 

Holidays
Delaware’s holiday leave law depends on the type of employer. Private employers are not required to provide paid holiday leave.

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Delaware has different child labor laws depending on a minor’s age. The minimum age to work is 14. If a minor is under 18, they are required to attain a work permit. A new work permit will be required if they receive a new job. 

Laws for minors 14-15:

• Cannot work before 7 AM or after 7 PM – except June 1st- Labor Day when the evening hour will be extended to 9 PM. 

• Cannot work more than 4 hours on school days and more than 8 hours on non-school days

• Cannot work more than 18 hours in any week when school is in session for five days

• Cannot work more than six days on any week and more than 40 hours per week when school is not in session

• Cannot work 5 or more hours continuously without a meal break of at least 30 consecutive minutes. The break must occur after the first 2 hours of work and before the last 2 hours of work.

Laws for minors 16-17:

• Cannot exceed more than 12 combined hours of work and school hours per day

• Must have at least 8 consecutive hours per day when they are not working or in school

• Cannot work more than 5 or more hours continuously without a meal rest break of at least 30 consecutive minutes. The break must occur after the first 2 hours of work and before the last 2 hours of work.

Hiring
In addition to following federal regulations, Delaware prohibits discrimination in hiring based on the following:

• Race

• Color

• National origin

• Sex

• Sexual orientation

• Gender identity

• Disability

• Religion

• Age (40 or older) 

Firing
Delaware supports “at-will” employment laws. All Delaware employers have the right to terminate employees at will for nearly any reason and no reason at all, as long as it’s not discriminatory, retaliatory or otherwise unlawful.