Time Card Atlas

Overtime and pay rules in Ohio

A minimum wage that indexes every January, and a pay schedule written into the statute. Every line below names the statute it came from, so you can check it rather than trust it — and where a rule is genuinely unsettled, this page says so instead of picking an answer.

Ohio at a glance Checked 26 July 2026
Daily overtime
None — a long day is not overtime by itselfOhio Rev. Code § 4111.03
Weekly overtime
Over 40 hours a week at 1.5×, for employers over $150,000 in salesOhio Rev. Code § 4111.03(A), (D)(2)
Seventh day
NoneNo Ohio statute
Pay frequency
At least twice a month, on dates fixed by statuteOhio Rev. Code § 4113.15(A)
Final pay — fired
No separate deadline — the § 4113.15 payday schedule applies
Final pay — quit
No separate deadline — the § 4113.15 payday schedule appliesOhio Rev. Code § 4113.15
Meal and rest
No state requirement for adults; 30 minutes for minors after 5 hoursOhio Rev. Code § 4109.07(C) (minors); federal 29 CFR §§ 785.18, 785.19
Minimum wage
$11.00 an hour for employers over $405,000 in gross receiptsOhio Const. Art. II § 34a; Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.02
Where to complain
Ohio Department of Commerce, Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration
The rule
Pay, if you want it
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Overtime in Ohio

Daily overtime

Ohio has no daily overtime threshold. Overtime is counted weekly. Only California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado count it by the day.

Weekly overtime

Ohio requires overtime at one and a half times the employee’s wage rate for hours worked over forty in one workweek. The state rule carries a size threshold that federal law does not: an employer whose annual gross volume of sales or business done is less than $150,000 falls outside the definition of employer in the Ohio statute. That does not necessarily leave you without overtime — the federal FLSA can still cover you individually through the work you do — but the state route closes.

The seventh consecutive day

Ohio has no seventh-day premium and no general day-of-rest requirement for adult private-sector employees.

How often you must be paid

Ohio writes the calendar into the statute rather than leaving it to the employer. Wages earned in the first half of a month, ending with the fifteenth, must be paid on or before the first day of the following month. Wages earned in the second half of a month must be paid on or before the fifteenth day of the following month. That makes twice a month the floor, with a maximum lag of about a fortnight from the close of the period.

When your last paycheck is due

This is the question people search for most, and in several states the answer depends on whether you left or were let go. In Ohio:

  • If you were fired or laid off: No separate deadline — the § 4113.15 payday schedule applies.
  • If you quit: No separate deadline — the § 4113.15 payday schedule applies.

Ohio is the least clear of the eight states on this page, and it is worth being precise about why. Ohio has no statute that says "final wages are due within X days of separation". What it has is section 4113.15, which sets the semimonthly payday schedule above and applies to wages that remain unpaid past the day they were due, with a liquidated-damages provision attached. In practice that means your last cheque is due on the scheduled payday for the half-month in which you worked the hours — the same day it would have arrived had you stayed. It is not an accelerated deadline like California’s or Texas’s.

This is the softest answer on the page Ohio is the only one of these eight states with no statute that names a deadline for a last cheque. The schedule above is what section 4113.15 requires for wages generally, and it is the deadline an Ohio employer is actually held to — but if you are counting days against a specific separation date, check it with the Bureau or with a lawyer rather than relying on this page.

Meal and rest breaks

Ohio requires no meal period for employees aged eighteen and over. Employees under eighteen are covered: no employer may work a minor more than five consecutive hours without allowing a rest period of at least thirty minutes.

No rest breaks are required for adults. Federal rules still decide whether a break is paid — under twenty minutes counts as working time, and a meal period of thirty minutes or more may be unpaid only if you are completely relieved of duty.

The Ohio minimum wage

Ohio’s minimum wage is indexed to inflation by its constitution and rises every January. From 1 January 2026 it is $11.00 an hour for non-tipped employees and $5.50 for tipped employees, and it applies to employers with annual gross receipts of more than $405,000 — the threshold itself is indexed, and rose from $394,000. Employers below that threshold, and employees under sixteen, are at the federal $7.25.

Figure checked 26 July 2026, effective 1 January 2026. Minimum wages move on a schedule and local ordinances move on their own — if you are reading this well after that date, check the agency link below before relying on the number.

If you have not been paid

The distinction matters in Ohio more than in most states. The Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration investigates minimum wage complaints, and it can only recover the minimum wage for hours shown to be unpaid — it is not a general unpaid-wages agency. Unpaid overtime, or a last cheque that never arrived, is generally a private action under the Ohio Revised Code or a federal complaint to the US Department of Labor. You may pursue the Bureau’s process or your own claim, but not both at the same time.

Deadline: Two years for a federal overtime claim, three if the violation was wilful. Ohio’s own minimum-wage provision carries a three-year limitations period.

Ohio Department of Commerce, Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration

What this page does not cover

  • Whether the rules apply to you at all. Overtime and break rules apply to non-exempt employees. If you are genuinely exempt, or an independent contractor, most of this page is not about you — and misclassification is common enough that being called exempt is not the same as being exempt.
  • Local ordinances. Cities and counties set their own minimum wages, paid sick leave and, in some places, scheduling rules. Only the state-level position is described here.
  • Industry-specific rules. Agriculture, transport, health care, public employment and several other sectors carry their own wage orders and exemptions that override the general position.
  • Your contract or union agreement, which can promise more than the law requires — never less.
  • This is not legal advice. It is a cited summary of published law, written to be checked. The agency above answers questions for free.

Common questions

Does Ohio have daily overtime?

No. Ohio counts overtime weekly, over forty hours in a workweek. Only California, Alaska, Nevada and Colorado have a daily threshold.

When is my final paycheck due in Ohio?

Ohio has no separate final-paycheck statute. The general payday schedule applies: wages earned in the first half of a month are due on or before the first day of the next month, and wages earned in the second half on or before the fifteenth. So the last cheque arrives on the payday it would have arrived on anyway.

What is the minimum wage in Ohio in 2026?

Eleven dollars an hour from 1 January 2026, for employers with annual gross receipts over $405,000. Smaller employers, and employees under sixteen, are at the federal $7.25. Ohio indexes its rate to inflation each January.

Does my employer have to give me a lunch break in Ohio?

Not if you are eighteen or over. Ohio requires no meal or rest breaks for adults. Minors may not be worked more than five consecutive hours without a thirty-minute rest period.

Who investigates unpaid wages in Ohio?

The Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration takes minimum-wage complaints and can recover the minimum wage for unpaid hours. It is not a general wage-claim agency: unpaid overtime and unpaid final wages are usually a private action or a federal complaint to the US Department of Labor.

Sources

Every field on this page was read against a primary source on 26 July 2026. Wage law changes; the minimum wage line changes most often.
Other states