Kentucky Labor Laws: A Complete Guide to Wages, Breaks, Overtime, and More (2026)

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA Kentucky) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. Employees need at least one year of service and 1,250 hours worked in the prior 12 months. FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees.

Qualifying reasons include the employee’s serious health condition, care for an ill immediate family member, and care for a newborn or newly placed child. Employees with a covered military family member who has a serious injury or illness may take up to 26 weeks.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

The federal Kentucky PWFA (Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Kentucky) took effect on June 27, 2023. Covered employers — those with 15 or more employees — must provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so creates undue hardship.

A crew member who needs light duty, modified hours, or schedule adjustments during pregnancy must receive reasonable accommodation. This fills the gap between the ADA and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

Although employers in Kentucky are not mandated by state laws to provide sick leaves, they must comply with their established policies if they choose to offer it to employees. 

Employers in Kentucky are not mandated to provide vacation days. However, if they choose to offer vacation leaves, they can establish their own policies. 

For example, employers can opt for a “use it or lose it” policy and require their employees to use their accrued vacation leaves by a certain date.

They can also establish vacation leave policies or requirements when an employee resigns from the company, such as a two-week notice for the vacation leave to be considered paid leave. 

Employers in Kentucky are not obligated to pay employees who are summoned for jury duty service. However, they must allow their employees to take time off to respond to a jury duty summon or attend court for prospective jury service. 

Employers in Kentucky must provide employees with at least four hours of voting time off if they are scheduled to work on polling day. Employers may also specify the hours employees may take their voting time-off.

Employers in Kentucky are not obligated to provide bereavement leave. However, they may choose to implement one and comply with company guidelines and policies. 

Employees who are emergency medical technicians, volunteer firefighters, rescue squad members, emergency management agency members, and peace officers may be granted a leave to respond to an emergency or recover from an injury sustained while responding to an emergency. 

Employers in Kentucky are required to provide personal leave of up to six weeks to employees who adopt a child who is 10 years of age or younger. 

Employers in Kentucky are not required to compensate employees who are subpoenaed by a court to serve as a witness. However, they also cannot take adverse actions against employees who avail of this leave. Employees will be required to provide proof of the need for witness leave. 

Kentucky employees who are active members of the National Guard or other reserve forces are allowed to take up to 21 working days of military leave per year without risking their civilian employment. 

There are some cases in which certain professionals are exempt from the overtime rule. This includes:

• Individuals working in administration, provided not more than 20% of the time is spent on activities unrelated to the position, e.g. accountants
• Individuals who are executives and who directly manage at least two employees
• Professionals with advanced skill and extensive knowledge e.g. certified teachers
• Sales representatives

Besides these government-approved exemptions, Kentucky state law exempts certain occupations from overtime pay. These occupations include:

• Agriculturists
• U.S. government employees
• People employed in domestic service in a private home
• Babysitters in the employer’s home
• Companions of an elderly, sick, or convalescing person
• Newspaper delivery people
• People working in organized non-profit camps, religious, or educational centers (provided they are not open for work more than 7 months in a calendar year)
• Employees in a 24-hour residential care facility for children who are dependent, abused, or neglected
• Employees in non-profit child-caring facilities (licensed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services)
• Employees in residential care working as family caregivers to an adult with mental health or intellectual disability (certified to provide adult foster care, by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services)
• Employees in retail stores, hotels, motels, restaurants, and service industries as long as the business earns less than $95,000 for the five preceding years, exclusive of excise taxes, or the employees are members of the employer’s immediate family.

In Kentucky, employment relationships are generally governed by the principles of “at-will” employment, meaning that either employer or employee can terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, unless there is an employment contract stating otherwise.

It is important to know that in some cases, exceptions to the ‘at-will rule’ may arise in cases involving employment contracts, union agreements, or certain legal protections against wrongful termination

Other than operating under the principle of at-will employment, Kentucky also has state-specific laws that promote a “right-to-work” state, which means that employees are not required to join a union or pay union dues as a condition of employment. Employees have the freedom to choose whether to participate in union activities.

Background checks are legal during the hiring process and are controlled by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which regulates the collection, accuracy, and distribution of information in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

However, only certain positions in Kentucky require background checks:

• School personnel such as new certified hires, student teachers, and coaches
• Public college and university personnel
• Personal services agency personnel
• Long-term care facilities personnel (as long as the facility is owned, managed, or operated by the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental, and Intellectual Disabilities)
• Childcare center personnel (provided the employee has direct contact with minors)

Kentucky provides equal employment opportunity to everyone in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship. The Office of Diversity, Equality, and Training provides general guidance and oversight for EEO compliance in the state.