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Last updated on: April 27th, 2022
Hours & Pay Regulations
Normal Working Hours
On and after January 1, 1978, no employer shall employ any employee for a workweek longer than 46 hours, unless such employee receives compensation for employment in excess of 46 hours in a workweek at a rate of not less than 1½ times the hourly wage rate at which such employee is regularly employed. The time is spent on walking, riding, or traveling to and from the actual place the employee is required to report when the period of time is compensable by express contract, custom, or practice.
Under state law, employers must pay for work time during which employees are performing services for their employers or are required to wait or remain on call.
Record-Keeping Requirement
Every employer, shall make and keep, for a period of not less than three (3) years, in or about the premises wherein any employee is employed, a record of the name and occupation of each employee, the rate of pay, and the amount paid each pay period to each such employee, the hours worked each day and each workweek by each such employee and such other information as the Secretary may prescribe by rules and regulations as being necessary or appropriate.
Overtime
No employer shall employ any employee for a workweek longer than 46 hours unless such employee receives compensation for employment in excess of 46 hours in a workweek at a rate of not less than 1.5 times the hourly wage rate at which such employee is regularly employed.
Breaks
Kansas labor laws do not have any laws requiring an employer to provide a meal period or breaks to employees, thus the federal rule applies. The federal rule does not require an employer to provide either a meal (lunch) period or breaks. However, if an employer chooses to do so, breaks, usually of the type lasting less than 20 minutes, must be paid. Meal or lunch periods (usually 30 minutes or more) do not need to be paid, so long as the employee is free to do as they wish during the meal or lunch period.
Breast Feeding Requirements
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 43-158 (2006) allows a mother breastfeeding her child to be excused from jury service and allows jury service to be postponed until the mother is no longer breastfeeding the child.
Kan. Stat. Ann. § 65-1,248 (2006) provides that it is the public policy of Kansas that a mother’s choice to breastfeed should be supported and encouraged to the greatest extent possible and that a mother may breastfeed in any place she has a right to be.
Public Holidays
In Kansas, 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
Kansas does not have a paid annual leave law that applies generally to private employees.
Special Leave
Employers must provide leaves of absence to employees for childbearing. Employers can’t treat employees disabled by pregnancy or childbirth differently with regard to commencement and duration of leave, accrual of seniority and other benefits, and payment under any health, temporary disability insurance, or sick leave plan from any other temporarily disabled employees.
Employees must be allowed up to two consecutive hours of paid time off from work to vote in an election. However, if polls are open outside an employee’s working hours, the employee must only be allowed leave that provides at least two consecutive hours when added to the employee’s non-working hours. An employer may specify the hours an employee may leave work to vote, but may not designate the employee’s lunchtime for voting.
An employer may not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is the victim of domestic violence or a victim of sexual assault for taking time off from work to obtain or attempt to obtain judicial relief such as a restraining order; seek medical attention; obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, domestic violence program, or rape crisis center; or make court appearances in the aftermath of domestic violence or sexual assault. An employee shall give the employer reasonable advance notice of his or her intention to take time off unless such advance notice is not feasible.
An employee seeking domestic violence leave must give his or her employer advance notice of the intention to take time off of work, whenever possible. Within 48 hours of the employee’s return, the employee must provide documentation that supports the requested time off. An employer may not take adverse action against an employee for an unscheduled absence if the employee provides sufficient documentation (such as a police report) to support the absence within 48 hours. Employees are permitted up to eight days of domestic violence leave per calendar year. Leave taken is unpaid. However, employees may substitute any accrued paid leave for the otherwise unpaid leave.
Employers must reinstate or restore employees to the permanent position they held when they were called or ordered to state active duty as members of any state military force unless re-employment is impossible or unreasonable or would impose an undue hardship on employers.
Under the Kansas Acts Against Discrimination (KAAD), employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee on the basis of sex in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. The KAAD, under its regulations, recognizes pregnancy discrimination as a form of sex discrimination. The regulations require covered employers to:
- Provide leave of absence, for a reasonable period of time, for female employees due to childbearing; and
- Consider as temporary disabilities for all job-related purposes disabilities which are caused or contributed to by:
- Pregnancy; or
- Miscarriage; or
- Abortion; or
- Childbirth; or
- Recovery from any of the above.
An employer must provide unpaid leave for all time an employee spends completing jury service. An employer may not discharge or threaten to discharge an employee due to his or her jury service. Employees must be reinstated to their same positions without loss of seniority or benefits following jury service.
In addition to USERRA, Kansas law provides job protections for state and U.S. military service members. Employers must grant eligible employees an unpaid leave of absence if called to active duty or to perform annual drills (unless the employer provides paid leave in similar leave situations). Employees are entitled to leave for the period of military duty plus 72hours after release from duty or recovery from disease or injury resulting from military duty.
Executive branch state employees are allowed up to 30 days of paid leave for organ donation. (EO2001-02).
