Minimum wage and overtime

The minimum wage in Kentucky is $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal rate. Most covered employees must also be paid one and one-half times their hourly rate for hours worked over 40 in a week.

Minimum wage and tipped workers

Kentucky’s minimum wage statute is tied to the federal rate. If the federal rate rises above the state rate, the state rate rises to match on the same date.

A tipped employee is one who regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. An employer may pay the lower federal cash wage, currently $2.13 an hour, only if wages plus tips equal at least the minimum wage each week, as shown by the employer’s records.

An employer may not require workers to hand over their tips. A tip pool may not include salaried employees, managers or supervisors.

Overtime and the seventh-day rule

Overtime is owed at one and one-half times the employee’s hourly rate for each hour over 40 in a workweek. The Education and Labor Cabinet states that an employee covered by the overtime law may not be given compensatory time off instead.

Kentucky also has a separate seventh-day rule. An employee who works all seven days of a workweek must be paid time and a half for the seventh day. The rule does not apply if the employee was not permitted to work more than 40 hours that week, and it does not cover supervisors.

Who is not covered

Workers excluded from Kentucky’s minimum wage and overtime rules include:

• Agricultural workers.
• People employed in a genuine executive, administrative, supervisory or professional role, and outside salespeople.
• Babysitters working in the employer’s home, and certain companions for sick or elderly people.
• Newspaper carriers.
• Employees of retail, service, hotel and restaurant businesses with average annual sales under $95,000.

The state overtime statute also leaves out employees of retail stores, restaurants, hotels and motels. Federal law has its own coverage rules and may still require overtime for some of these workers.

Filing a wage complaint

The Division of Wages and Hours in the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet enforces these laws and accepts complaints online or on a paper form.

A worker may also sue. An employer that underpays is liable for the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, though a court may reduce the extra damages if the employer acted in good faith. An agreement to work for less than the legal wage is not a defense. A claim under the state wage laws must be brought within three years after it arises. Federal wage claims have separate deadlines.