The Delaware labor law guide
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Wages and breaks
The current minimum wage in Delaware is $15.00 according to wage and hour laws.
The tipped minimum wage is $2.23 per hour. Employers may take a tip credit of up to $12.77 per hour, provided that an employee’s tips bring their total earnings to at least $15.00 per hour. If an employee’s tips do not raise their earnings to the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Employees may agree to participate in a tip pooling or sharing arrangement. If more than one employee provides direct service to customers, the employer may require participation in a tip-sharing system, provided it does not exceed 15% of the primary gratuities.
The Delaware Office of Labor Law Enforcement serves to ensure a fair workplace by enforcing overtime laws. Delaware law requires employers to pay non-exempt employees 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The Fair Labor Standards Act also requires that non-exempt employees be paid 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in the workweek.
State and federal labor laws, specifically the overtime rule, stipulates that the minimum salary requirement for administrative, professional, and executive exemptions is $1128 per week, or $58,656 per year. Workers making at least this salary level may be eligible for overtime based on their job duties.
Employers are required to provide meal breaks of at least 30 minutes to adult employees who work 7.5 hours or more in a day.
The break can be unpaid, and must be given sometime after the first 2 hours of work and before the last 2 hours.
Minors must receive a 30-minute break for every 5 consecutive hours of work.
Final paychecks in Delaware
Delaware Department of Labor laws require employers to pay all final wages to employees who separate from employment for any reason (including termination, resignation, or separation due to a labor strike) by the next regularly scheduled payday.
Delaware child labor laws
Minors 14 and 15 years of age may not work: Before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. except from June 1 through Labor Day, when they may work until 9 p.m., more than 4 hours a day on school days, more than 8 hours a day on non-school days, more than 18 hours of work in any week when school is in session for 5 days, more than 6 days in any week, more than 40 hours a week when school is not in session, or more than 5 hours continuously without a break of at least 30 minutes.
Minors 16 and 17 years of age may not work more than 12 hours in a combination of school and work hours per day, or more than 5 hours continuously without a break of at least 30 minutes. They also must have at least 8 consecutive hours of non-work, non-school time in each 24-hour period.
All minors under 18 years of age must obtain a work permit before beginning employment. A new work permit is required each time a minor changes employers.
The work permit application must include a parent or guardian signature and employer information. Completed applications must be submitted to a school issuing officer, a local Delaware Department of Labor office, or emailed to workpermits@delaware.gov.
Leave Requirements
Delaware Sick days
Employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid sick leave but must comply with their own established policies if they choose to implement one.
Delaware medical and family leave
Delaware has enacted the Healthy Delaware Families Act, establishing a Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Insurance Program. Employers with 10 or more employees are required to participate.
The program is now fully active. Payroll deductions began January 1, 2025, with first contributions due by April 30, 2025. Employees became eligible to submit claims for benefits beginning January 1, 2026.
Benefits provide 80% wage replacement, with a minimum benefit of $100 per week and a maximum of $900 per week for 2026–2027.
Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of parental leave per year. For other qualifying reasons, employees may take up to 6 weeks of leave within a 24-month period.
Under a July 2025 amendment, employers may not require employees to exhaust accrued paid time off before using PFML benefits.
Delaware bereavement leave
Employers are not required to provide bereavement leave.
Delaware vacation time
Employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid vacation leave but must comply with their own established policies in their employee handbook if they choose to implement one.
Employers may establish a contract that denies employees payment for accrued vacation leave if they resign, if they are terminated, or if they fail to meet certain requirements.
Employers can cap the amount of vacation time that can be accrued.
Delaware holiday leave
Private employers are not required to provide paid or unpaid time off for holidays.
delaware Jury Duty leave
Employers are not required to pay an employee for time taken to respond to a jury summons, but they are not allowed to punish the employee in any way and may not require them to use any available vacation or sick leave.
Delaware Voting leave
Employers are not required to allow employees time off, either paid or unpaid, to vote.
An employer cannot prevent employees from using any available leave to act as an election officer as long as the employee is not in a critical need position.
Delaware Military leave
Public school employees are entitled to take military leave when they are called to active duty. The employee is entitled to return to their job after their service.
The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is applicable to all employers in the United States.
Delaware Witness Leave
Employers are not required to provide their employees with leave to appear as a witness in court, except for school bus drivers, aides, and crossing guards who testify about someone passing a school bus when its lights were flashing. Employers cannot take any adverse action against these types of employees for taking leave preparing for or appearing as a witness.
Delaware Crime Victim Leave
Employers cannot take any adverse action against an employee who is the victim of a crime (or their representative) for preparing for a criminal proceeding at the prosecutor’s request or for attending a criminal proceeding.
Hiring and firing
Delaware anti-discrimination laws
Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of: Race, Color, Age, Sex, Sexual orientation, Gender, Gender identity, Religion, National origin, Pregnancy, Genetic information, including family medical history, Physical or mental disability, Child or spousal support withholding, Military or veteran status, Citizenship and/or immigration status.
Additionally, Delaware prohibits discrimination based on membership in a volunteer emergency responder organization.
Delaware Termination Laws
Delaware is an employment-at-will state, which means that without a written employee contract, employees can be terminated for any reason at any time, provided that the reason is not discriminatory and that the employer is not retaliating against the employee for a rightful action.
Delaware Record-Keeping Laws
Regarding employment and payroll data, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and others, you must:
For at least 3 years: keep payroll records, certificates, agreements, notices, collective bargaining agreements, employment contracts, and sales and purchase records. Also keep completed copies of each employee’s I-9 for three years after they are hired. If the employee works longer than three years, hold on to the form for at least one year after the employee leaves.
For at least 2 years: Keep basic employment and earning records like timecards, wage-rate tables, shipping and billing records, and records of additions to or deductions from wages. Also keep the records that show why you may pay different wages to employees of different sexes, such as wage rates, job evaluations, seniority and merit systems, and collective bargaining agreements.
For at least 1 year: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says employers should keep all employment records for at least one year from the employee’s date of termination.
Other record-keeping laws that may apply to you:
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, you need to keep records of job-related injuries and illnesses for five years. But some records, like those covering toxic substance exposure, have to be kept for 30 years.
You must keep files of benefit plans and seniority and merit systems while they are in effect and for at least a year after they end. You must also retain summary descriptions and annual reports of benefits plans for six years.
If your company is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, you must also retain relevant records of leaves, notices, policies, and more for three years.
Additional laws that may apply to you
COVID-19 vaccines
The following types of employees must receive the vaccine or undergo weekly testing:
- Long-term care and other healthcare facilities
- Public and private school educators, staff, contractors, and volunteers
- State employees
Delaware Drug and alcohol testing laws
Delaware does not explicitly allow or prohibit testing employees or applicants for drugs or alcohol, except for school bus drivers, nursing homes, home health agencies, and certain governmental employees.
Delaware COBRA laws
COBRA is a federal law that allows many employees to continue their health insurance benefits after their employment ends. Because federal COBRA only applies to employers that have 20 or more employees, many states have adopted their own versions of the law, which are known as “mini-COBRAs.” Delaware’s mini-COBRA allows employees to continue their coverage for up to nine months. Employers must provide notice within 30 days of the triggering event to the employee and the policy administrator.
Delaware Whistleblower protection laws
Employers may not discharge or discriminate against an employee, because the employee reported a violation of the law, because the employee participated in a proceeding regarding an alleged violation of the law, or because the employee refused to violate the law or assist in violating the law.
Delaware Background check laws
Delaware’s Ban the Box law applies primarily to public employers, including the State of Delaware, its agencies, and political subdivisions. Covered public employers may not inquire about an applicant’s criminal or credit history during the initial application process through the first interview. A conditional offer must be extended before such inquiries are made.
The state Ban the Box law does not apply broadly to private sector employers. However, Wilmington has a local ordinance that applies to certain city government positions.
When criminal history is considered, lookback limits apply: felony convictions are generally limited to a 10-year lookback period, and misdemeanor convictions are limited to a 5-year lookback period.
Delaware law also requires background checks for certain positions, including Department of Corrections personnel, childcare workers, healthcare personnel, public school personnel, school bus drivers, and nursing home personnel.
Delaware Arrest and Convictions Check laws
Employers are not allowed to ask an applicant about their criminal or credit history until after a conditional offer of employment is made. Beforehand, they must ensure fair and equitable treatment to the applicants.
Delaware Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act
The Delaware Pregnant Workers Fairness Act applies to employers with four or more employees. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to employees whose ability to work is limited by pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions.
Reasonable accommodations may include more frequent or longer breaks, seating, modifying no-food-or-drink policies, light-duty assignments, temporary transfers to alternative positions, modified work schedules, time off to recover from childbirth, and break time and appropriate facilities for expressing breast milk.
Employees who believe their rights have been violated must file a complaint with the Delaware Department of Labor within 300 days of the alleged violation.
Delaware Employee Monitoring laws
Employers must inform their employees before monitoring their phone calls, e-mail messages, or internet use. The notice may be electronic.
Delaware is an “all parties” consent state, meaning every person on a phone call must be aware that they are being monitored or recorded and have consented by placing or continuing the phone call.
This means employers may monitor or record phone calls between their own employees only if each employee has been given notice that phone calls may be monitored or recorded. However, phone calls placed by employees to outside parties may not be monitored or recorded unless the outside party has also consented.
Delaware Sexual harassment training laws
Any public or private sector employer with 50 or more employees are required to provide harassment prevention training.
All new hires must receive training within 1 year of commencement of employment. Once the employees have received the initial training, they must be retrained on harassment prevention every two years thereafter.
Compliance Calendar
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Remember
This summary is not qualified legal advice. Laws are always subject to change, and they can vary from municipality to municipality. It’s up to you to make sure you’re compliant with all laws and statutes in your area. If you need more compliance help, we recommend consulting with a qualified lawyer, checking with your local government agencies, or signing up for Homebase to get help from our certified HR Pros.