Guide to Utah employee benefits and HR rules

Is your organization compliant with Utah’s employment and HR laws?

If your organization is based in the Beehive State or if you employ Utah workers, you need to know the ins and outs of HR compliance in the state. This guide provides a general overview of Utah's regulations for small and medium-sized businesses.

Topics covered in this guide include:

• What are an employee’s rights in Utah?
• What are private employers required to provide in Utah?
• Wage laws in Utah
• Other HR and employment requirements in Utah
• Health insurance in Utah

What are private employers required to provide in Utah?

There are a few employee benefits and accommodations Utah requires employers to provide. We've broken up the requirements in the sections below.

Required workplace accommodations

Employers must provide pregnancy and childbirth-related accommodations in the workplace upon an employee’s request. You can't require an employee to end their employment or deny opportunities based on the need to make reasonable accommodations available. You may, however, require a medical certification before making the accommodations, except for increased restroom, food, or water breaks.

Required employee benefits

Utah state laws require a few employee benefits in addition to those required by federal employment laws.

Required benefits include:

• Utah Health Care Continuation Coverage (Utah Mini-COBRA)
  • All employers must offer continuation of healthcare coverage to employees for up to a year if they experience a job termination (except gross misconduct), reduction in hours, retirement, sabbatical, disability, or leave of absence.
  • The right to continuation of coverage applies to an employee’s spouse or dependents impacted by the death of an employee or divorce.
• Paid time off (PTO) and unpaid time off
  • Utah doesn’t require employers to offer general vacation time or sick leave benefits. However, employers must abide by their set policy or employment contract, including paying out any unused vacation time upon termination of an employee.
  • Military leave: Employers must provide military leave of up to 120 hours per calendar year to National Guard or Military Reserves members on official orders. Additionally, military members are eligible for unpaid military leave under the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) law. This law allows employees to take leave for deployment and guarantees reinstatement upon their return.
    To be able to do this, employees must meet the following conditions:
    • The employee must provide a notice of their military service to the employer.
    • The total time spent in active military service must remain under five years.
    • The military discharge can't be dishonorable or disqualifying.
    • The return to work must be timely.
  • Jury duty: Employers don’t need to pay employees for their time attending summons for jury duty or serving on a jury. But they must allow employees to attend their jury summons without using PTO or sick time.
  • Employers must provide up to two hours of PTO for employees to vote if the employee doesn’t have at least three consecutive hours off-duty to vote while the polls are open.
  • Employees who must appear in court with their minor child must receive time off (paid or unpaid) to attend if the employee provided at least seven days’ notice or notified the employer within 24 hours of a hearing notice.
• Workers' compensation insurance
  • Under the Utah Workers' Compensation Act, employees who suffer workplace injuries or get sick on the job can receive various benefits.

Other HR and employment requirements in Utah

In addition to employee rights, benefits, and compensation, there are other HR rules you must know if you have employees in the Beehive State.

Required workplace posters

The Utah Labor Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Utah Antidiscrimination & Labor Division require employers to display certain Utah workplace labor and employment law posters in all physical workplaces.

The required posters include the following:

• Employee rights: Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• Employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act
• Employee rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Federal equal employment opportunity
• Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
• Workers' compensation notice
• Unemployment insurance notice to workers
• Workplace safety and health in the state of Utah
• Pregnancy and related conditions under the Utah Antidiscrimination Act

Child labor laws in Utah

Minors younger than 16 can't work during school hours, work more than four hours before or after the school day, or work more than eight hours in a 24-hour period. They also can't work before 5 a.m. or after 9:30 p.m. when school is the next day.

Federal law, however, prohibits minors younger than 16 from working before 7 a.m. on any day. It also prohibits minors younger than 16 from working after 7 p.m. from Labor Day to May 31 and from working more than three hours on a school day.

Under Utah law, employers must provide 30-minute meal breaks to minor employees within the first five hours of their workday. They must also allow a 10-minute break for every four hours worked.

Unemployment insurance

Employers in Utah must report each employee’s wages to the state along with their quarterly tax report. Employers must keep accurate records on wages and separation for all employees for at least four years.

This is to allow for better record keeping when a former employee files for unemployment benefits through the state.

Hiring practices

While federal law already makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of protected classes, Utah further prohibits discrimination in the hiring process for AIDs or HIV history, criminal records, and breastfeeding and related conditions. These additional protections apply to all organizations with 15 or more employees.

Utah requires background checks on any employee who works as a non-licensed school personnel, school contract employees, volunteers, and charter school board members. Outside of education, anyone who is working with children or vulnerable adults, as a manager for a package agency, or works in a specific public transportation role is also required to complete a background check.

Social media protection

Utah's Internet Employment Privacy Act prohibits employers from asking employees or job applicants for social media passwords or usernames.

The law does allow this practice if an employee uses a company device or the employer suspects them of transferring or releasing confidential information. As a best practice, be sure to include this information in your employee handbooks.

Health insurance in Utah

While state law doesn’t require employers to provide health insurance, federal law does. The Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate requires employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) to provide affordable insurance with minimum essential coverage (MEC) and minimum value.

Offering health benefits to your employees is a great way to attract and retain top talent.

While traditional group health insurance is a popular option, rising premium costs have made it challenging for small businesses to offer the benefit. Thankfully, there’s a better way to offer health benefits to your employees in Utah.

Health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)

A health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) is an IRS-approved, employer-funded health benefit that allows you to reimburse your employees, tax-free, for their individual health insurance premiums and qualifying medical expenses.

With an HRA, you have complete control over your benefit while giving your employees more freedom to choose how they want to use their benefit.

Some HRAs, such as the individual coverage HRA (ICHRA), can satisfy the federal regulations for applicable large employers (ALEs). Even if you don’t have to offer health benefits, doing so can help you attract and retain employees. If you have fewer than 50 FTEs, the qualified small employer HRA (QSEHRA) is an excellent way to provide benefits without breaking the bank.

Health stipend

A health stipend is a fixed sum of money offered to your employees to help pay for their healthcare expenses. A health employee stipend isn't a formal group health plan, so you have complete control over which expenses are eligible for reimbursement.

This makes a health stipend an excellent option for small businesses looking to offer a health benefit that covers costs health insurance or HRAs may not cover, such as mental health expenses. But, there are drawbacks. Stipends are taxable, and employees may not see them as a real benefit.