Workers' Rights: Minimum Wage, Overtime, Safety, and Unions
Key takeaways
- The federal minimum wage has been 7.25 dollars an hour since 2009, while 30 states and D.C. set higher rates.
- Most hourly workers must get time-and-a-half pay for hours over 40 in a week, but salaried managers and professionals above a pay threshold and independent contractors do not.
- The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, but only about half of workers qualify, and 13 states and D.C. offer paid leave.
- OSHA sets and enforces workplace safety rules with about 1,800 inspectors for millions of workplaces.
- The National Labor Relations Act protects the right to organize, and union membership was 10 percent of workers in 2025.
- A June 2026 Supreme Court ruling let Presidents remove commissioners of agencies like the FTC at will, a ruling widely seen as covering the NLRB.
Most American workers are employed at will, meaning they can be fired for almost any reason or none, but federal laws set a floor of protections on pay, hours, leave, safety, and organizing. States and cities often add more.
This guide explains the main federal protections for private-sector workers, who enforces them, and the current debates. Discrimination protections are covered in the civil rights guide, and public employees in the government unions guide.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires time-and-a-half pay for hours over 40 in a workweek for most hourly workers. Salaried executives, administrators, and professionals earning at least 684 dollars a week are exempt, after a court struck down a higher threshold in 2024. The law also limits the hours and jobs of workers under 18, and child labor violations have risen in recent years. The 2025 budget law let workers deduct some overtime pay and tips from income taxes through 2028.
The Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year for a new child or a serious illness, but it covers only employers with 50 or more workers. There is no federal right to paid sick days or vacation, though many states require paid sick leave and 13 states and D.C. run paid family leave programs. Federal law also regulates employer retirement and health plans that companies choose to offer.
The National Labor Relations Act protects most private-sector workers who organize, bargain collectively, or act together about pay and conditions, even without a union. Union membership was 10 percent in 2025, about 6 percent in private companies, and 26 states have right-to-work laws. In 2025 the President removed an NLRB member, leaving the board without a quorum for months, and in June 2026 the Supreme Court in Trump v. Slaughter ended job protections for commissioners of agencies like the FTC. Unions want stronger penalties for illegal firings, while business groups want limits on organizing tactics.
The Labor Department enforces most federal workplace laws through agencies such as the Wage and Hour Division, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Employee Benefits Security Administration, while the independent National Labor Relations Board protects organizing rights. Many protections apply only to employees, not independent contractors, so how workers are classified matters. Workers can file complaints for free, and many laws also let them sue.
The federal minimum wage has been 7.25 dollars an hour since July 2009, the longest period without a raise since it began in 1938, and inflation has cut its value by about 30 percent. Thirty states and D.C. set higher minimums, 19 states raised theirs in 2026, and the highest statewide rate tops 17 dollars. Tipped workers may be paid as little as 2.13 dollars an hour if tips bring them to the minimum. Proposals to raise the federal rate have stalled in Congress.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires employers to keep workplaces free of recognized serious hazards and created OSHA to set and enforce safety standards, such as rules for trenches, falls, and chemical exposure. About 5,000 workers die on the job each year, down from about 14,000 in 1970. OSHA can inspect only a small share of workplaces, and about half the states run their own approved plans. Workers have the right to report hazards without retaliation.
See discrimination protections in who enforces civil rights, public-sector unions in government employee unions, or job loss benefits in the safety net explained.