Introduction to employment laws in Louisiana
Overview
Louisiana’s labor laws address key areas such as minimum wage, overtime compensation, hiring procedures, employee termination, discrimination protections, and workplace safety standards. Employers must also comply with specific rules regarding employee records, health insurance coverage, and final paychecks.
This guide will give you all you need to know about the complex web of employment laws and regulations essential for maintaining a lawful and ethical work environment in Louisiana.
Employing in Louisiana: Key employment laws and practices
Standard work hours
As in all states, all employers must comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Full-time employment in Louisiana ranges from 30 to 40 hours per week. For contractual workers or self-employed professionals, working hours vary significantly based on contract terms or project schedules.
Minimum wage and overtime
In Louisiana, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum wage standard. Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay calculated at 1.5 times their regular pay rate for any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.
Employees usually exempt from overtime are those who earn more than the Louisiana exemption threshold of $684 per week or whose roles are managerial or executive in nature, in certified or licensed professions like law or accounting.
Insurance and benefits
Under Louisiana law, employers are required to provide certain types of insurance and benefits to their employees. This includes workers’ compensation insurance for all employees and unemployment insurance for employees who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
In terms of health benefits, smaller employers with fewer than 20 employees must provide health care continuation coverage under Louisiana’s Mini-COBRA law. This law guarantees that employees can maintain their health insurance coverage up to 12 months after leaving employment, with possible extensions for surviving spouses.
Requirement | Description |
Workers’ compensation | Required for all employees |
Unemployment insurance | Required for all employees |
Mini-COBRA benefits | Required for employers with fewer than 20 employees |
Meal and rest periods
In Louisiana, employers are obligated to provide a meal break to employees under the age of 18. The law stipulates that an employer must give every minor who works for any five-hour period at least one 30-minute meal break, which is not included as part of the working hours of the day.
Adult workers in Louisiana do not have a state-mandated right to a meal or other type of break. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), does not require employers to provide meal or rest breaks, but if they choose to do so, breaks lasting less than 20 minutes must be paid.
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Anti-discrimination laws
The Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL) is a robust state-level statute that provides employees protection against discrimination based on several characteristics. The law applies to employers with 20 or more employees and prohibits discrimination based on age (40 or over), disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sickle cell trait, and genetic information.
The LEDL extends these protections to prevent discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions for employers with 26 or more employees.
If both federal and state laws apply and there is an overlap between them, employers should comply with the law that is most beneficial to the employee. This means that if both laws prohibit discrimination based on a certain characteristic but one law provides greater protection or rights for the employee, then that law should be followed.
Leave policies
Louisiana law does not require employers to provide employees with sick leave benefits, either paid or unpaid, but employers are mandated to follow the rules in the FLSA.
As for vacation leave, the law is much more complex. Louisiana regulations do not require employers to provide vacation leave, either paid or unpaid. Should the employer elect to offer accrued vacation time, exited employees are generally entitled to be paid for any that they did not use prior to departure.
Notably, Louisiana law does not require employers to provide leave for holiday, bereavement, or voting, either.
Leave type | Leave duration | Paid/Unpaid |
Pregnancy leave | Up to six weeks for normal pregnancy, up to four months for complications | Partially paid |
Medical and family leave (FMLA) | Up to 12 weeks per year | Unpaid |
Jury duty leave | Time required for jury service | Paid |
Emergency response leave | Time required to respond to emergency | Paid |
Bone marrow leave | Up to 40 hours, can be extended | Paid |
Military leave | Up to six years | Unpaid |
Voting leave | Up to two hours to vote in parish, up to one day to vote in another parish | Paid at employer’s discretion |
Termination laws
Louisiana is an at-will employment state. Under Louisiana’s at-will employment doctrine, employers are allowed to terminate any employee at any time and for any reason, as long as a contract or another statute governing the employer-employee relationship does not exist
The law stipulates that an employee who voluntarily resigns or is involuntarily terminated from employment must be paid by the next regular payday or 15 days after the date of separation, whichever occurs first.
Easily onboard employees in Louisiana?
Safety and health
Louisiana has specific regulations related to safety and health in the workplace. The state prohibits smoking in any enclosed area within a place of employment under the Louisiana Smokefree Air Act. Employers are required to post proper signage and remove ashtrays in every place where smoking is prohibited.
Louisiana law strictly prohibits texting while driving as part of its commitment to maintaining safe working practices. As for weapons in the workplace, Louisiana generally allows guns to be stored or transported in locked private vehicles, even if the vehicle is parked on workplace property. However, employers do have the right to limit or restrict guns in workplace buildings.
Taxes in Louisiana
Employers are responsible for withholding federal and state income taxes from employees’ wages. The current Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax rate, which includes Social Security and Medicare taxes, is 7.65% for employers.
Employers in Louisiana must pay unemployment insurance taxes as part of their payroll taxes, as stipulated by the state’s Unemployment Insurance Law.
Employers also need to be aware of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), which imposes a federal employer tax used to help fund state workforce agencies. Employers report and pay FUTA tax separately from Social Security tax and withheld income tax.
Tax | Employer Rate | Employee Rate |
Social Security | 6.2% | 6.2% |
Medicare | 1.45% | 1.45% |
Additional Medicare (on wages over $200,000) | N/A | 0.9% |
Federal Unemployment (FUTA) | 6% on first $7,000 per employee | N/A |
Louisiana State Income Tax | N/A | Progressive rates from 1.85% to 4.25% |
Louisiana Unemployment Insurance (SUTA) | 0.09% – 6.2% | N/A |
Managing Louisiana employees with an Employer of Record (EOR)
For those expanding operations into Louisiana, the web of state and federal compliance regulations may seem daunting. With strict regulations governing everything from hiring practices to wage policies, businesses must ensure they stay compliant to avoid legal penalties.
As a global HR platform, Multiplier helps businesses streamline their processes and stay compliant with local regulations. Multiplier’s Employer of Record solution enables businesses to employ full-time workers in the U.S. legally and compliantly without setting up local entities.
And with our payroll platform, running payroll operations in Louisiana and beyond becomes a simple, streamlined task. Businesses can pay a global workforce in multiple currencies while handling local taxes, contributions, and withholdings.
To understand how Multiplier can simplify your HR and compliance processes, book a demo today.
FAQs
The LEDL is a significant piece of legislation that prohibits discrimination based on age (40 or over), disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sickle cell trait and genetic information by employers with 20 or more employees. Additionally, employers with 26 or more employees are prohibited from discriminating based on pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.
In Louisiana, employers are allowed to conduct pre-employment criminal checks and drug testing. However, employers cannot consider an arrest record or charge that did not result in a conviction while deciding on employment eligibility. Any background check information used during the hiring process must be made available to the applicant upon written request.
Louisiana’s child labor laws restrict the number of hours and times during which minors may work, and the occupations in which they may be employed. The law prohibits minors from working in certain hazardous occupations and places additional restrictions on those aged 15 years or younger. Minors under the age of 16 are entitled to a 30-minute meal break for every five-hour work period.
All employers in Louisiana must inform employees at the time of hiring how frequently they will be paid. Louisiana law also allows for particular deductions from wages for reasons like willful or negligent damage to employer property. For health care continuation, Louisiana’s regulations apply to employers not covered by federal COBRA regulations.
Louisiana has several laws mandating required time off and leaves of absence for employees. This includes pregnancy leave, military leave, veterans’ medical appointment leave, school and daycare conference and activities leave, emergency responder leave, bone marrow donation leave, and leave for genetic testing and cancer screening.
