Pennsylvania counts every minute. So should your paycheck.

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Minimum wage

What the law says

The Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act sets the state minimum at $7.25 an hour, the same as federal law. In March 2026 the Pennsylvania House passed House Bill 2189, which would raise it to $11 in 2027, $13 in 2028 and $15 in 2029. It still needs the Senate and the Governor, so $7.25 remains the law until that happens.

The minimum applies to every hour, whether you are paid by the hour, by the day, by the piece or in cash. A flat weekly amount that works out below $7.25 for the hours you actually worked is a violation.

Worked in more than one state?

If some of your work was in New York or New Jersey, those states’ much higher minimums apply to the hours worked there. Tell us where each shift was.

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Overtime after 40 hours, figured the strict way

What the law says

The Minimum Wage Act requires one and a half times your regular rate for every hour over 40 in a workweek. There is no daily overtime; it is counted by the week.

In Chevalier v. General Nutrition Centers (2019), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the “fluctuating workweek” method, which pays a salaried worker only an extra half for overtime hours, is not allowed under Pennsylvania law. A salaried worker who is not exempt is owed the full time and a half, with the regular rate figured on a 40-hour week.

Where it goes wrong

• A weekly salary for 50 or 60 hours with no overtime
• Overtime paid at half-time on a salary
• Hours split across two companies or two checks
• Bonuses and shift premiums left out of the regular rate

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Every minute counts

What the law says

In Heimbach v. Amazon.com (2021), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that time spent on the employer’s premises waiting for and going through mandatory security screening is hours worked, and that the Minimum Wage Act has no de minimis exception. Federal law sometimes lets employers ignore a few minutes a day; Pennsylvania law does not.

A few unpaid minutes a shift add up. Ten minutes a day over three years is well over a hundred hours, often at the overtime rate.

Time that is usually paid

• Waiting for and passing through security screening
• Putting on required protective gear at the site
• Opening and closing tasks, and booting up equipment
• Meal breaks that are interrupted or spent at your station

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Fewer ways to call you exempt

What the law says

To be exempt as an executive, administrative or professional employee, you must be paid a salary above the required level and your actual duties must fit the category. Pennsylvania law does not include some federal exemptions, such as the one for highly paid employees, and Pennsylvania courts read exemptions narrowly.

The salary level that applies depends on the dates you worked, and it has changed more than once in recent years. We check it for your exact period.

Common misclassifications

• Assistant managers who mostly run a register or stock shelves
• Salaried office staff who follow set procedures
• Day-rate field and warehouse workers
• Drivers and installers paid as 1099 contractors

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Tipped workers

What the law says

Pennsylvania lets an employer pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.83 an hour and count tips toward the rest of the $7.25 minimum. Since August 5, 2022, it may do that only for a worker who receives at least $135 a month in tips, and only while that worker spends no more than 20 percent of the week on duties that do not produce tips.

No credit card or processing fee may be taken out of tips. Banquet and service charges must be shown on the bill as separate lines, and a charge presented as a gratuity belongs to the staff.

Where it goes wrong

• Managers or owners taking part in the tip pool
• Hours of prep, cleaning or dish work paid at $2.83
• Tips short in the weekly total
• Card fees deducted from tips

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Promised pay has to be paid on time

What the law says

The Wage Payment and Collection Law requires employers to pay all wages they owe, including agreed commissions, bonuses and fringe benefits, on regular paydays, and to pay a departing worker by the next regular payday.

When wages stay unpaid 30 days past the regular payday and there is no good-faith dispute, the worker is owed liquidated damages of 25 percent of the wages due or $500, whichever is greater. The law also makes the employer pay the worker’s attorney’s fees and costs, and officers and agents who decide pay can be held responsible.

Deadline

A Wage Payment and Collection Law claim must be brought within three years of when the wages were due.

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No retaliation for asking

What the law says

The Minimum Wage Act makes it unlawful to discharge or discriminate against a worker for complaining about pay or taking part in a proceeding. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act protects complaints too, including complaints made to the employer. Threats about immigration status count as retaliation.

If you still work there

Tell us before you raise it with the employer. How and when a complaint is made can decide a retaliation claim later.

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Philadelphia and Pittsburgh add more

What the law says

Philadelphia’s wage theft ordinance lets workers file unpaid wage complaints with the city’s Office of Worker Protections, which can order payment. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh each require employers to provide paid sick time, with protection from punishment for using it.

These city rules sit on top of state and federal law. Where you worked decides which ones apply.

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The same protection whatever your status

What the law says

Wage laws cover work that was done, not the paperwork behind it. Courts do not let employers avoid paying earned wages because of a worker’s status, and threats about status are unlawful retaliation. Speaking with a lawyer is confidential.