Title 60 — LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT

A day's labor in any manufacturing or mechanical occupation shall consist of eight hours unless there is an express agreement to the contrary. This does not apply if the agreement is for employment by the week, month, or year. Source: SL 1933 (SS), ch 10 , § 1; SDC 1939, § 17.010…

Whenever an employer separates an employee from the payroll, the unpaid wages or compensation of such employee are due and payable not later than the next regular stated pay day for which those hours would have normally been paid or as soon thereafter as the employee returns to t…

Whenever an employee not having a written contract for a definite period quits or resigns that employment, the wages or compensation earned are due and payable not later than the next regular stated pay day for which those hours would have normally been paid or as soon thereafter…

In the event of the suspension of work as the result of a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute, the wages and compensation earned and unpaid at the time of said suspension shall become due and payable at the next regular pay day, as provided in § 60-11-9 , including, without a…

In case of a dispute over wages, the employer shall give written notice to the employee of the amount of wages less whatever the employee owes the employer which the employee concedes to be due. The employer shall pay such amount without condition within the time set by §§ 60-11-…

Sections 60-11-8 to 60-11-23 , inclusive, do not apply to any form of compensation other than cash wages owing to any employee by or on behalf of any employer. Source: SL 1971, ch 274 , § 15; SL 2008, ch 276 , § 83.

Any employer who intentionally refuses to pay the wages due and payable when demanded as in §§ 60-11-9 to 60-11-13 , inclusive, or who falsely denies the amount thereof, or that the same is due with the intent to secure for the employer or any other person any discount upon such …

Any employee who falsifies the amount due to the employee or who intentionally attempts to defraud the employer commits a Class 2 misdemeanor. Source: SL 1971, ch 274 , § 8; revised pursuant to SL 1976, ch 158 , § 43-6 ; SL 1978, ch 359 , § 2; SL 2008, ch 276 , § 85.

The Department of Labor and Regulation shall ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter, investigate any violations of §§ 60-11-8 to 60-11-23 , inclusive, and institute or cause to be instituted actions for penalties and forfeitures provided thereunder. The department …

No employer may discharge, discriminate, or engage in or threaten to engage in any reprisal, economic or otherwise, against any employee because the employee has made any complaint to the employer, or to the Department of Labor and Regulation, that the employee has not been paid …

The Department of Labor and Regulation may take assignments of wage claims, rights of action for penalties, provided by §§ 60-11-8 to 60-11-23 , inclusive, not to exceed five hundred dollars in any case of any one claim without being bound by any of the technical rules with refer…

If the Department of Labor and Regulation determines that wages have not been paid, and that the unpaid wages constitute an enforceable claim, the department shall upon the request of the employee take an assignment in trust for the wages or any claim for liquidated damages, with…

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for any employer to require any employee to pay the cost of a medical examination or the cost of furnishing any records required by the employer as a condition of continued employment. The term, employer, as used in this section means an individual, a …

The Department of Labor and Regulation shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to carry out the provisions of §§ 60-11-8 to 60-11-23 , inclusive. Source: SL 1971, ch 274 , § 11; SL 1993, ch 375 , § 13; SL 2011, ch 1 (Ex. Ord. 11-1 ), § 33, eff. Apr. 12, 2011.

The Department of Labor and Regulation may enter into reciprocal agreements with the labor department or corresponding agency of any other state or with the person, board, officer, or commission authorized to act for and on behalf of such department or agency, for the collection …

The Department of Labor and Regulation may, to the extent provided for by any reciprocal agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of § 60-11-21 , or by the laws of any other state, maintain actions in the courts of such state for the collection of such claims for wages, …

The Department of Labor and Regulation may, upon the written request of the labor department or other corresponding agency of any other state or any other person, board, officer, or commission of such state authorized to act for and on behalf of such labor department or correspon…

In any action for wages brought in small claims court which is removed to magistrate court or circuit court under § 15-39-57 , the court may, in addition to awarding judgment to the plaintiff, allow costs of the action, including reasonable attorney fees, to be paid by the defend…

Every employer shall pay to each employee wages at a rate of not less than eight dollars and fifty cents an hour. Violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The provisions of this section do not apply to certain employees being paid an opportunity wage pursuant to § 60-1…

Any employer of a tipped employee shall pay a cash wage of not less than fifty percent of the minimum wage provided by § 60-11-3 if the employer claims a tip credit against the employer's minimum wage obligation. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's cash wage of not…

Beginning January 1, 2016, and again on January 1 of each year thereafter, the minimum wage provided by § 60-11-3 shall be adjusted by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living shall be measured by the percentage increase as of August of the …

Rejected by referendum.

A person so employed at less than the minimum wage provided by § 60-11-3 shall be entitled to recover the full amount measured by said minimum wage and costs, notwithstanding any agreement to work for less. Source: SL 1923, ch 309 , § 2; SDC 1939, § 17.0607; SL 1943, ch 76 ; SL 1…

Any employee who is under twenty years of age may be paid an opportunity wage as defined in section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1996 as of October 1, 1996. Source: SL 1990, ch 413 , § 5; SL 1997, ch 298 , § 5; SL 1999, ch 260 , § 2.

The provisions of §§ 60-11-3 and 60-11-4 do not apply to any apprentice, nor to any person learning the business or work in which employed, nor to any person with a developmental disability, if the Department of Labor and Regulation issues a permit for the person's employment fix…

Repealed by SL 1978, ch 359 , § 3.

In any action for the breach of an obligation to pay wages, if a private employer has been oppressive, fraudulent, or malicious, in the employer's refusal to pay wages due to the employee, the measure of damages is double the amount of wages for which the employer is liable. Sour…

In §§ 60-11-9 to 60-11-23 , inclusive, the term, employer, includes any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, corporation, receiver, or other officer of a court of the state, and any agent or officer of any kind of the above mentioned classes and subj…

Every employer shall pay all wages due to employees at least once each calendar month unless otherwise provided by law, or on regular agreed pay days designated in advance by the employer, in lawful money of the United States. An employer may pay wages by check, cash, or direct d…