The South Dakota 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 $11.20 per hour for most employees.

This amount applies across the entire state of South Dakota. There's talk in the legislature of raising the minimum wage in 2025, but nothing is yet set in stone for South Dakota's future wage and hour laws.

Starting January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage will be $11.50 for most employees.

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South Dakota's minimum wage requirement doesn't apply evenly to all employees. The minimum wage for tipped employees is set at $5.60 per hour as of 2024. In this case, if the hourly tip doesn't rise to the state minimum wage standard, employers are required to make up the difference themselves so that the employee meets the $11.20 per hour standard.

Other exemptions under South Dakota's labor laws include independent contractors, whose hourly rates may sometimes not go above the state minimum.

Starting January 1st, 2025, the tipped minimum wage will be $5.75 per hour. Employers will need to make up the difference if the employee’s wage with tips doesn’t reach the new hourly state minimum of $11.50.

South Dakota itself doesn't have a more detailed overtime requirement apart from the federal government's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers covered by the FLSA are required to pay their workers 1.5 times their regular rate of pay if they work more than 40 hours in a given workweek. Failing to provide overtime pay can leave the business vulnerable to legal penalties.

South Dakota doesn't have specific meal and rest break laws. If employers do offer a break, the federal government requires that they pay their employees if they do any kind of work during that break, or if it's just a very short one. Meal breaks longer than 30 minutes don't need to be paid.

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South Dakota does not require paid leave for private employees. This is a matter of employer policy.

Vacation leave
South Dakota doesn't require private employers to provide vacation leave. 

Sick leave

• There is no statewide mandate for offering sick leave to employees.

• Individual employers can set their own sick leave policies at will, including offering none at all.

• Employers who do offer sick leave have to abide by the contractual agreements where these policies are recorded.

• Private employers in South Dakota aren't required to provide sick leave, whether paid or unpaid. 

Holiday leave

• Businesses in South Dakota are free to establish their own policies regarding holiday leave.

• South Dakota doesn't require private employers to provide holiday leave.

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South Dakota's child labor laws are codified in Chapter 60-12 of the state's statutes. These control the conditions under which someone under the age of 18 can work and what responsibilities they may or may not assume. 

Minors aged 14 and under

• They're not allowed to work in factories, workshops, retail establishments, and many other occupations.

• It's prohibited for them to work during school hours or after 7 PM. 

Minors aged 14 to 15

• Factories, workshops, and retail businesses can only employ them during non-school hours, but never later than 7 PM.

• They can't work more than 20 hours in a school week, nor for more than four hours on a school day

• They can work a maximum of 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week, when school is not in session. 

• Cannot work after 10 PM on a school night.

Minors aged 16 to 17

• Businesses can't employ these minors in any occupation considered “hazardous to life, health, or morals." South Dakota generally follows federal fair labor standards in defining this. 

• They're not allowed to dispense gasoline or other potentially dangerous chemicals at gas stations.

South Dakota employers must abide by the state’s anti-discrimination laws when making hiring and firing decisions. This means they can’t base their decisions around a candidate's:

• Race

• Color

• Creed

• Religion

• Sex

• Ancestry

• Disability

• National Origin

Hiring
Employers have to inform candidates if they're going to perform a background check. In addition, South Dakota businesses have to abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act in handling a candidate's private financial information. 

Firing
South Dakota is an at-will employment state, so employers don't need a justification for letting someone go as long as the termination doesn't violate state or federal anti-discrimination laws.