Utah Wage and Hour Laws

Wage and hour laws help ensure that employees are paid a fair wage by providing them with certain rights. The federal wage and hour laws are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and provide minimum standards that the state laws may not dip below. States have the power to enact their own wage and hour laws, as long as the state law doesn't violate the federal FLSA. Utah has chosen to enact its own minimum wage rule, and the following chart provides a brief overview of this law.

Code Section	Utah Administrative Code Rule 610-1: Minimum Wage
What's Utah Required Minimum Wage?	As of July 24, 2009, most employers in Utah must pay their employees at least $7.25 per hour.
Employees Exempted Under Section 34-40-104	Utah's minimum wage law doesn't apply to the following workers: Any employee entitled to a Federal minimum wage as provided in 29 U.S.C. Sec. 201 et seq. of the FLSA Outside sales persons Employee who are members of the employer's immediate family Employees who provide companionship services to people who (because of age or infirmity) aren't able to care for themselves Casual and domestic employees Seasonal employees of nonprofit camping programs, religious, or recreational programs, and nonprofit or charitable organizations Employees of the USA Prisoners employed through the prison system Agricultural employees who mainly produce livestock, harvest crops on a piece rate basis, worked as an agricultural employee for less than 13 weeks during the previous year, or retired and performs incidental work as a condition of residing on a farm Registered apprentices or students employed by their educational institution, or Seasonal hourly employees employed by a seasonal amusement park
Employing Minors	A "minor" is any person under 18 years old. In Utah, a minor employee must be paid at least $4.25 per hour for the first 90 days working for a particular employer, and then the minor must be paid a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Tipped Employees Â	A "tipped employee" is a worker who regularly receives tips from customers. For example, waiters and waitresses are traditionally tipped employees. An employer may credit tips received by tipped employees against the employer's minimum wage obligation. An employee must receive at least $30.00 in tips per month before the credit is allowed. Tipped employees can be paid as little as $2.13 per hour, so long as this base pay combined with the employee's tips equals at least $7.25 per hour. Additional information about tipped employees: Service charges that are imposed on a customer don't qualify as tips Tip pooling or sharing among employees who regularly receive tips qualifies Dishwashers, chefs, cooks, janitors, and other employees who don't regularly receive tips from customers don't qualify as tipped employees

Enforcement of the Minimum Wage

If an employer in Utah repeatedly violates the minimum wage law outlined above, that employer has committed a Class B misdemeanor. A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail, and/or a fine of up to $1,000. An employee can bring a civil action against his employer in order to enforce his rights under Utah's minimum wage laws. If the employee wins in court then he is entitled to injunctive relief and may recover the difference between the wage paid and the minimum wage, plus interest.

If you're an employee in Utah and feel that your employer has violated Utah's state labor laws, you can file a claim with the Division of Antidiscrimination and Labor.

Overtime Laws

In Utah, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act governs hour laws such as overtime. The chart below outlines the overtime laws that employers in Utah must abide by.

Code Section

29 U.S.C. Â§ 207: US Fair Labor Standards Act: Maximum Hours

What's Required?

If an employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek then he must be compensated with overtime pay.

A "workweek" can be any 168 consecutive hours. The FLSA allows employers to set their own workweek.

Overtime hours must be paid at a rate of at least 1Â½ of the employee's standard pay rate.

Additional Resources

State laws change frequently. If you have questions about Utah's wage and hour laws, youn can contact a local employment attorney to learn more.