Understanding Delaware Labor Laws for Seasonal Businesses

If you are in a business like pool and patio construction, you can’t have year-round customers. You will have surges in demand based on the seasons, as Sunflower Pool and Patio has experienced. While these surges in demand can be great for your bottom line, what can hide behind them are violations of laws and regulations from working employees too much or too little. The regulations are especially strict in a state like Delaware, which is one of the most business-friendly states when it comes to labor laws, providing you know the rules and follow them. The same is true of outside work, such as roof work in Hurricane season. What you are doing elsewhere may impact what you are doing in your business.

For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that if you are employing anyone in the United States, whether they are employees or independent contractors, that you track their working time. If you are using workers who are under the age of 18, there are even more restrictions on their working hours, as specified in the Delaware labor laws scheduling handbook for employers (a.k.a., “the Red Book”).

Delaware law prohibits the employment of anyone who is 14 or 15 years old from working:

• Inside: More than three hours on a school day, more than eight total hours on a non-school day, more than 18 total hours in a week when school is in session, more than 40 hours in a week, or before 7:00 a.m. or later than 7:00 p.m.
• Outside: Before 7:00 a.m. or after 7:00 p.m. on any day, or outside of the time periods specified above for inside work on a school day.

When school is no longer in session, the restrictions on working hours do not apply, except minors cannot work more than 8 hours in a day and must have a 30-minute uninterrupted meal period if they work more than five consecutive hours.

Minors who are 16 or 17 years old are permitted to work during school hours, provided that work does not exceed 8 hours in a day. However, they cannot work more than 40 hours in a week, more than 10 hours in a day, before 6:00 a.m. or before 2:00 p.m., or after 10:00 p.m., during exam periods, on a Sunday if they are participating in organized sporting events or activities on that date, more than four days in a week, or outside the time periods specified above for 14- and 15-year-old workers.

Summing up the provisions above, you must be aware of how the requirements interact with each other. You can’t just pick the most lenient one and ignore the more stringent requirements. For instance, you can’t ignore the 10:00 p.m. night shift because the employee is a 17-year-old. You have to pay attention to the hours limitations.

The Labor Law Compliance System has a series of pamphlets on the Delaware Wage & Hour Laws.

By understanding these little details, you can plan for the seasonal needs of your business and comply with the law at the same time, without suffering from a potential slowdown in business from having to lay off workers or suffer violation penalties.