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Last updated on: December 29th, 2022
Hours & Pay Regulations
Normal Working Hours
New Hampshire requires employers to pay employees for all hours worked. New Hampshire has adopted the rules and regulations regarding hours worked to set forth pursuant to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. New Hampshire law defines a workweek as a fixed period of 168 consecutive hours, which equates to 7 consecutive 24-hour periods. A workweek must start and end on a specified day of the week and hour of the day and coincide with the calendar week.
Record-Keeping Requirement
The employer must keep a true and accurate record of all hours worked and all wages paid each employee. These records must be kept for a minimum of at least 3 years Every employer shall provide his/her employees with a written or posted detailed description of employment practices and policies as they pertain to paid vacations, holidays, sick leave, bonuses, severance pay, personal days, payment of the employee’s expenses, pension and all other fringe benefits per RSA 275: 49.
Overtime
Employers must pay employees covered by New Hampshire’s overtime law 1.5 times their regular rates for hours worked in excess of 40 per week.
Breaks
Employers must provide all the employees a meal period of at least 30 minutes before five hours of continuous work unless the employee can reasonably perform their work while eating a meal.
Weekly Rest
Employees required to work on a Sunday must receive a 24 consecutive-hour rest period during the following 6 days. Employers who operate on Sundays must post in a conspicuous location in the workplace a list of the employees required to work on Sundays and the day of rest for each employee, and file the list with the New Hampshire Labor Commissioner.
Work On Rest Days
No employee shall be required or allowed to work on the day of rest designated for him. Whoever violates this section shall be fined $50.
Sunday Work
Employers may require or request that employees work more hours in a typical workday to make up lost time because of a legal holiday. Employers that require employees to work on Sundays must provide those employees with a 24-hour rest period during the following week. Employers that require employees to work on Sunday must allow employees to take 24 consecutive hours off during the next six days. Employers that operate on Sunday must post a list of employees required to work on Sunday and designate a day of rest for these employees. No employer shall operate any such business on Sunday unless he has posted in a conspicuous place on the premises a schedule containing a list of employees who are required or allowed to work on Sunday and designating the day of rest for each, and shall promptly file a copy of such schedule and every change therein with the labor commissioner.
Effective July 29, 2018, recreation-camp employees and youth-skill camp employees are added to the categories of workers exempt from state day-of-rest and Sunday work requirements.
Public Holidays
No employee shall be required to work in any mill or factory on any legal holiday, except to perform such work as is both absolutely necessary and can lawfully be performed on the Lord’s Day.
In New Hampshire, a private employer can require an employee to work holidays. A private employer does not have to pay an employee premium pay, such as 1½ times the regular rate, for working on holidays, unless such time worked qualifies the employee for overtime under standard overtime laws. If an employer chooses to provide either paid or unpaid holiday leave, it must comply with the terms of its established policy or employment contract.
Annual Leave
Annual Leaves are unpaid leave based on the agreement between employer and employee (FSLA).
Special Leave
The New Hampshire Granite State Paid Family Leave Plan (NH PFML) also known as the Granite State Paid Family Leave Plan is effective January 1, 2023. The State provides voluntary opt-in paid family leave benefits to both public and private employees. Employers with more than 50 employees are eligible to opt for the insurance plan.
The leave provides covered employees with up to 60% of the average weekly wages for a maximum of 6 weeks per year, with no minimum duration required, plus a 7 calendar day period between the beginning of an injury or illness and receiving benefit payments from an insurer.
Employees may take continuous or intermittent leave with a minimum of 4-hour increments. The covered events include the birth or adoption of a child, care of a newly adopted child or foster child for the first year, care for an employee’s family member with serious health issues, military exigency, and an employee’s own serious health condition not caused due to employment.
The enrollment period for employers begins on December 1, 2022, and will remain open. For individual plans, the enrollment period begins on January 1, 2023, and will remain open through March 2, 2023.
There are no military leave requirements for private employers, but private employers are encouraged to grant employees the same leave as the state grants to public employees (up to 15 days of paid leave per year to attend drills, training, or other temporary duty). Employers must allow employees who are honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. armed forces to take unpaid leave on Veterans Day.
An employer shall permit a female employee to take leave of absence for the period of temporary physical disability resulting from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. When the employee is physically able to return to work, her original job or a comparable position shall be made available to her by the employer unless business necessity makes this impossible or unreasonable.
An employer with 25 or more employees must allow an employee who is a victim of a crime to take unpaid leave so that the employee may attend court or other proceedings associated with the crime. An employee may choose to use accrued vacation, personal or sick leave time, or the employer may require the employee to do so. Employees are subject to notice and documentation requirements. An employer may only limit leave to the extent that an employee’s absence creates an undue hardship on the employer. Employers may not retaliate or discriminate against employees who exercise their right to take leave.
An employer may not terminate, threaten, or coerce an employee regarding his or her employment because the employee receives and responds to a summons, serves as a juror, or attends court for prospective jury service.
An employer must allow an employee who is a member of a fire department, rescue squad, or emergency medical services agency to take unpaid leave if called to service during a declared state of emergency. Employees may choose to use vacation or other accrued leave for the period of emergency service, but employers may not require employees to do so.
