South Carolina Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No State Rate

(A) For purposes of this section "political subdivision" includes, but is not limited to a municipality, county, school district, special purpose district, or public service district. (B) A political subdivision of this State may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require a minimum wage rate that exceeds the federal minimum wage rate set forth in Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. 206. Also, a political subdivision of this State may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require a minimum wage rate related to employee wages that are exempt under 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. (C) This section does not limit the authority of political subdivisions to establish wage rates in contracts to which they are a party. (D) For purposes of this section, "wage" has the same meaning set forth in Section 3(m) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. 203(m).

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at scstatehouse.gov

(A) Any employer who violates the provisions of Section 41-10-30 must be given a written warning by the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or his designee for the first offense and must be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each subsequent offense. (B) Any employer who violates the provisions of Section 41-10-40 must be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each violation. Each failure to pay constitutes a separate offense. (C) In case of any failure to pay wages due to an employee as required by Section 41-10-40 or 41-10-50 the employee may recover in a civil action an amount equal to three times the full amount of the unpaid wages, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees as the court may allow. Any civil action for the recovery of wages must be commenced within three years after the wages become due. (D) The Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or his designee shall promulgate regulations to establish a procedure for administrative review of any civil penalty assessed by the Director.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at scstatehouse.gov

Also relied on in: South Carolina Final Paycheck Laws: The 48-Hour-or-30-Day Rule, South Carolina Severance Pay Laws (2026): Is Severance Required?

Employers, community rehabilitation programs, and hospital patient care workers at regional centers shall not use Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to pay disabled employees a subminimum wage. No individual with a disability may be paid less than the federal minimum wage.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-29 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at scstatehouse.gov

As used in this chapter— “Person” means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, legal representative, or any organized group of persons. “Commerce” means trade, commerce, transportation, transmission, or communication among the several States or between any State and any place outside thereof. “State” means any State of the United States or the District of Columbia or any Territory or possession of the United States. “Employer” includes any person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee and includes a public agency, but does not include any labor organization (other than when acting as an employer) or anyone acting in the capacity of officer or agent of such labor organization. Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), the term “employee” means any individual employed by an employer.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Minimum Wage by State (2027): All 50 States and DC, Alabama Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No State Rate, Arkansas Minimum Wage (2027): Still $11.00, No Change Scheduled

Every employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages at the following rates: except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than— $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after May 25, 2007; $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day; if such employee is a home worker in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, not less than the minimum piece rate prescribed by regulation or order; or, if no such minimum piece rate is in effect, any piece rate adopted by such employer which shall yield, to the proportion or class of employees prescribed by regulation or order, not less than the applicable minimum hourly wage rate. Such minimum piece rates or employer piece rates shall be commensurate with, and shall be paid in lieu of, the minimum hourly wage rate applicable under the provisions of this section.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Ohio Debt Collection Laws: Garnishment Formula, the 6-Year Consumer Debt Rule, and Repossession, South Dakota Debt Collection Laws: The 20% Garnishment Cap and 120-Day Lien, Wage Theft in the U.S.: Your Rights Regardless of Immigration Status

The provisions of sections 206 (except subsection (d) in the case of paragraph (1) of this subsection) and 207 of this title shall not apply with respect to— any employee employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity (including any employee employed in the capacity of academic administrative personnel or teacher in elementary or secondary schools), or in the capacity of outside salesman (as such terms are defined and delimited from time to time by regulations of the Secretary, subject to the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, except that an employee of a retail or service establishment shall not be excluded from the definition of employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity because of the number of hours in his workweek which he devotes to activities not directly or closely related to the performance of executive or administrative activities, if less than 40 per centum of his hours worked in the workweek are devoted to such activities); or Repealed. Pub. L. 101–157, § 3(c)(1), Nov. 17, 1989, 103 Stat. 939.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: The 2024 Overtime Rule Is Officially Dead: Courts Vacated It and the DOL Restored the $35,568 Salary Threshold, Federal Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No Change Scheduled, Georgia Minimum Wage (2027): $7.25, No Change Scheduled

The Secretary, to the extent necessary in order to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by regulations or by orders provide for the employment of learners, of apprentices, and of messengers employed primarily in delivering letters and messages, under special certificates issued pursuant to regulations of the Secretary, at such wages lower than the minimum wage applicable under section 206 of this title and subject to such limitations as to time, number, proportion, and length of service as the Secretary shall prescribe. The Secretary, to the extent necessary in order to prevent curtailment of opportunities for employment, shall by special certificate issued under a regulation or order provide, in accordance with subparagraph (B), for the employment, at a wage rate not less than 85 per centum of the otherwise applicable wage rate in effect under section 206 of this title or not less than $1.60 an hour, whichever is the higher, of full-time students (regardless of age but in compliance with applicable child labor laws) in retail or service establishments.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Louisiana Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No State Rate, Mississippi Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No State Rate, Tennessee Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No State Rate

After the expiration of one hundred and twenty days from June 25, 1938, it shall be unlawful for any person— to transport, offer for transportation, ship, deliver, or sell in commerce, or to ship, deliver, or sell with knowledge that shipment or delivery or sale thereof in commerce is intended, any goods in the production of which any employee was employed in violation of section 206 or section 207 of this title, or in violation of any regulation or order of the Secretary issued under section 214 of this title; except that no provision of this chapter shall impose any liability upon any common carrier for the transportation in commerce in the regular course of its business of any goods not produced by such common carrier, and no provision of this chapter shall excuse any common carrier from its obligation to accept any goods for transportation; and except that any such transportation, offer, shipment, delivery, or sale of such goods by a purchaser who acquired them in good faith in reliance on written assurance from the producer that the goods were produced in compliance with the requirements of this chapter, and who acquired such goods for value without notice of any such…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Federal Whistleblower Laws: Protections and How to Report, Employer Threatening to Call Immigration? Your Rights in the U.S., Connecticut Minimum Wage (2027): $17.48 an Hour From Jan. 1

Any person who willfully violates any of the provisions of section 215 of this title shall upon conviction thereof be subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, or to imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No person shall be imprisoned under this subsection except for an offense committed after the conviction of such person for a prior offense under this subsection. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 206 or section 207 of this title shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title shall be liable for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of section 215(a)(3) or 218d of this title, including without limitation employment, reinstatement, promotion, and the payment of wages lost and an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-03 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Unpaid Wages: How to File a Claim and Recover What You're Owed, Independent Contractor vs. Employee: The IRS, DOL and ABC Tests, Alaska Minimum Wage (2027): $14.00, Rising to $15.00 July 1

No provision of this chapter or of any order thereunder shall excuse noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a minimum wage higher than the minimum wage established under this chapter or a maximum work week lower than the maximum workweek established under this chapter, and no provision of this chapter relating to the employment of child labor shall justify noncompliance with any Federal or State law or municipal ordinance establishing a higher standard than the standard established under this chapter. No provision of this chapter shall justify any employer in reducing a wage paid by him which is in excess of the applicable minimum wage under this chapter, or justify any employer in increasing hours of employment maintained by him which are shorter than the maximum hours applicable under this chapter.

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Arizona Minimum Wage (2027): $15.65 an Hour From Jan. 1, California Minimum Wage (2027): $17.40 an Hour From Jan. 1, Colorado Minimum Wage (2027): $15.71 an Hour From Jan. 1

Any action commenced on or after May 14, 1947, to enforce any cause of action for unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation, or liquidated damages, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended [29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.], the Walsh-Healey Act, or the Bacon-Davis Act 1  See References in Text note below.  — if the cause of action accrues on or after May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, and every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within two years after the cause of action accrued, except that a cause of action arising out of a willful violation may be commenced within three years after the cause of action accrued; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947 —may be commenced within whichever of the following periods is the shorter: (1) two years after the cause of action accrued, or (2) the period prescribed by the applicable State statute of limitations; and, except as provided in paragraph (c), every such action shall be forever barred unless commenced within the shorter of such two periods; if the cause of action accrued prior to May 14, 1947, the action shall not be barred by paragraph (b)…

Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-07-28 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov

Also relied on in: Hawaii Minimum Wage (2027): $16.00 All Year, $18.00 in 2028, Idaho Minimum Wage (2027): Still $7.25, No Change Scheduled