Payroll and Benefits Guide United States – Louisiana

Employer

Employer Payroll Contributions

Employee

Employee Payroll Contributions

Employee

Employee Income Tax

General

Louisiana does not have a State Minimum Wage Law in place therefore the Federal Minimum Wage is used; for 2023 this is 7.25 USD per hour.

There are other minimum requirements:

Youth Minimum wage                                                             4.25 USD

Minimum Cash wage                                                                 2.13 USD

Maximum tip credit                                                                   5.12 USD

Payroll Cycle

In Louisiana, employees are generally paid monthly or semi-monthly.

13th Salary

There is no legislation for 13^th-month payments in Louisiana.

General

In Louisiana, the working week is a maximum of 40 hours per week, 8 hours per day.

Overtime

Employers can make overtime mandatory for employees, except for certain minors. Louisiana adheres to the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA), and work in excess of 40 hours per week is considered overtime and paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay. If employees are scheduled to work on weekends or rest days, no additional payment is required.

However, should an employer request an employee to work in exceptional circumstances on these days, then overtime is paid at the rate of 150% of the regular pay.

Working Week

Monday-Friday

Paid Time Off

Louisiana does not have any state statute governing the amount and payment of vacation time; however, it is common for employers to decide whether to offer paid or unpaid vacation leave.  This must comply with employment law and must be stipulated in the Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Public Holidays

There are 12 official holidays, however private employers are not required to provide either time off or overtime pay on these days.

Sick Days

VISA

Foreign nationals without permanent resident status or a work visa are not permitted to work in the United States. An employer seeking to hire a foreign national may file a petition with the United States Department of Homeland Security/ United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) for an employment visa on behalf of the prospective employee.

If the petition is approved, the prospective employee must obtain a “visa stamp” from a United States embassy or consulate (Canadian citizens are exempt from this requirement).  To get a temporary U.S. work visa, an employer must file a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). An approved petition must be part of the visa request; the types of visas include:

• H-1B – for applicants with a college degree hired to do specialised work. The visa is valid for three years and can be extended for an additional three years. The visa is connected to the employer that filed the petition. If there is a change of employer, the new employer must repeat the process. There are 65,000 H-1B visas available each year.
• H-1B1 – for applicants with a college degree from Chile and Singapore. The US government grants up to 1,400 visas to Chilean citizens and 5,400 from Singapore each year.
• H-2A – for temporary or seasonal agriculture work. It is limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
• H-2B – for temporary non-agricultural work. These visas are limited to citizens of qualified countries. Usually valid for up to 1 year and can be extended to a maximum of 3 years.
• L – for intercompany transfers (people transferred from a foreign company to a US branch of the company.) The applicant must have been employed at the company for a year before the transfer and work in a managerial level position or higher with specialised knowledge.
• 0 – for people with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, or athletics.

The standard procedure is to obtain a short-term work visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after the employee has started working in the United States.

For those seeking employment-based immigrant visas:

• E-1 – Highest priority employment for those with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics.
• E-2 – for those with advanced degrees or exceptional ability.
• E-3 – for skilled workers and professionals, as well as unskilled workers.
• E-4 – Members of certain immigrant groups.
• E-5 – Immigrant investors in US companies (substantial investment)

Alternatively, an employer may sponsor a potential employee’s application for permanent resident status, referred to as a “green card,” if the employee can establish that the potential employee is a multinational executive/manager transferee, has unique skills, or has been offered a job in the United States.

The employer must have been unable to recruit a U.S. worker who meets the position’s minimum requirements.

All employers are obligated to verify that all individuals they employ are authorised to work in the United States.

General

In the U.S., there are 38 states where there is a combined state and local tax rate.

Louisiana has a combined state and local average Tax Rate of 9.45% (State rate of 4.45% and local rate of average 5.00%