The South Dakota Labor Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly pay rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates.

As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage is $11.85 per hour.

→ Learn more about Deputy's labor law compliance software

Tipped employees must receive a cash wage of at least $5.925 per hour. If an employee's tips plus the $5.925 cash wage do not equal the $11.85 minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.

South Dakota itself doesn't have a more detailed overtime requirement apart from the federal government's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employers covered by the FLSA are required to pay their workers 1.5 times their regular rate of pay if they work more than 40 hours in a given workweek.

South Dakota doesn't have specific meal and rest break laws. If employers do offer a break, the federal government requires that they pay their employees if they do any kind of work during that break, or if it's just a very short one. Meal breaks longer than 30 minutes don't need to be paid.

→ Find out how Deputy can help you simplify meal and rest break compliance

South Dakota does not require paid leave for private employees. This is a matter of employer policy.

Vacation leave
South Dakota doesn't require private employers to provide vacation leave. 

Sick leave

• There is no statewide mandate for offering sick leave to employees.

• Individual employers can set their own sick leave policies at will, including offering none at all.

• Employers who do offer sick leave have to abide by the contractual agreements where these policies are recorded.

• Private employers in South Dakota aren't required to provide sick leave, whether paid or unpaid. 

Holiday leave

• Businesses in South Dakota are free to establish their own policies regarding holiday leave.

• South Dakota doesn't require private employers to provide holiday leave.

→ Learn more about Deputy's leave management software

Minors Under 14: They may not be employed in any factory, workshop, mercantile establishment, or mine. Employment is permitted only outside school hours and before 7:00 PM, and only in limited exceptions such as child actors, newspaper delivery, agricultural work, or working for a parent in a non-hazardous, parent-owned business.

Minors 14-15 Years Old: To ensure compliance with the more restrictive federal standards (FLSA), employers should follow these guidelines for 14 and 15-year-olds:

• School Weeks: Limited to a maximum of 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours per school week.

• Non-School Weeks: Limited to a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

• Time of Day: May only work between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.

• Summer Break: From June 1st through Labor Day, evening hours are extended to 9:00 PM.

Minors 16-17 Years Old: There are no state or federal restrictions on the hours 16 and 17-year-olds can work. However, they are strictly prohibited from working in any of the 17 hazardous occupations defined by the U.S. Secretary of Labor. Note that in South Dakota, minors over age 14 are legally permitted to dispense gasoline and oil at service stations.

Hazardous Occupations (Prohibited for all Minors under 18): Minors may not work in occupations involving:

• Explosives, radioactive substances, or coal mining.

• Logging, sawmilling, or forest fire fighting/prevention.

• Power-driven machinery (woodworking, hoisting apparatus like forklifts, metal-forming, or paper-product machines including balers).

• Slaughtering, meat-packing, or processing.

• Power-driven bakery machines.

• Roofing, wrecking, demolition, and excavation.

South Dakota employers must abide by the state’s anti-discrimination laws when making hiring and firing decisions. This means they can’t base their decisions around a candidate's:

• Race

• Color

• Creed

• Religion

• Sex

• Ancestry

• Disability

• National Origin

Hiring
Employers have to inform candidates if they're going to perform a background check. In addition, South Dakota businesses have to abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act in handling a candidate's private financial information. 

Firing
South Dakota is an at-will employment state, so employers don't need a justification for letting someone go as long as the termination doesn't violate state or federal anti-discrimination laws.