The Worker Rights Quiz: Ten Questions Young Workers Should Ace

Here is a number that should make every young worker pause: employers steal up to fifty billion dollars a year from American workers through wage theft, according to the Economic Policy Institute — more than the combined value of all robberies, burglaries, larcenies and car thefts in the country, and most of it is never recovered. The people most likely to lose money to shady pay practices are the ones who know the least about the rules, which is why this worker rights quiz exists.

Workplace law in the United States is a patchwork built over nearly a century. The federal wage law arrived in 1938, the family leave law followed in 1993, and a pregnancy accommodations law took effect in 2023 — while a 2024 federal court ruling in Texas stopped a nationwide noncompete ban before it ever started. Knowing the basics can be the difference between getting paid properly and getting quietly shortchanged.

The worker rights quiz below has ten questions drawn from real federal rules, each with the correct answer and a short explanation. No tricks, no legalese — just what every employee should know before the next shift. For more like this, browse the quizzes collection.

The Worker Rights Quiz, Part One: Pay, Hours and Breaks

1. What is the current federal minimum wage?
A) Seven dollars and twenty-five cents an hour
B) Ten dollars an hour
C) Fifteen dollars an hour
D) There is no federal minimum wage

Answer: A. According to the Department of Labor, the federal floor for covered workers has not moved since 2009. States may set a higher minimum, and most do — always check your state before assuming the federal number is what applies to you. See the federal wage guidance.

2. After how many hours in a single workweek must most hourly workers earn overtime?
A) Thirty
B) Thirty-five
C) Forty
D) Fifty

Answer: C. Under the federal wage law, covered nonexempt employees must be paid at least time and a half once they pass forty hours in a workweek, and there is no limit on how many hours adults may be scheduled. Read the overtime rules.

3. Servers can be paid a lower direct wage because of tips. What must the employer guarantee?
A) A direct wage of two dollars and thirteen cents an hour, with total pay reaching at least the federal minimum
B) The tipped rate, and tips are the worker's problem
C) Half the regular minimum, with no guarantee
D) The full minimum with no tip credit at all

Answer: A. Federal rules let employers pay tipped workers a lower direct wage, but if tips plus that wage do not reach the federal floor, the employer must make up the difference — and some states set a higher tipped rate. See the tipped-wage rules.

4. True or false: your employer is legally required to give you a lunch break.

Answer: False. Federal law sets no requirement for meal or rest breaks. Short breaks of twenty minutes or less must be paid when they are offered, while genuine meal breaks of around thirty minutes can be unpaid if you are fully relieved of duty. Many states add their own break rules, so check yours.

5. Can your manager punish you for telling coworkers what you earn?
A) Yes — pay is confidential
B) No — discussing wages is protected by federal labor law
C) Only if you belong to a union
D) Only salaried workers may discuss pay

Answer: B. According to the National Labor Relations Board, employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act may discuss wages with coworkers, and workplace policies that ban pay talk are unlawful. The protection applies whether or not you belong to a union. Read the wage-discussion guide.

The Worker Rights Quiz, Part Two: Leave, Contracts and Safety

Halfway through the worker rights quiz, the questions move from your paycheck to the fine print of the job itself.

6. When is an unpaid internship actually legal?
A) Whenever a company labels the role an internship
B) When the intern is the primary beneficiary, judged by a seven-factor test
C) Only at nonprofits
D) Unpaid internships are always illegal

Answer: B. The department applies a primary beneficiary test with seven factors: no expectation of pay, training like a classroom, ties to coursework, a schedule built around classes, limited duration, work that supports rather than replaces paid staff, and no promise of a job. If the employer benefits most, the intern counts as an employee who must be paid. See a rundown of the seven-factor test.

7. How much unpaid, job-protected leave can eligible workers take under the Family and Medical Leave Act?
A) Four weeks
B) Eight weeks
C) Twelve weeks
D) Twenty-six weeks

Answer: C. Eligible employees may take up to twelve weeks a year for reasons including a new child or a serious health condition. Qualifying generally takes twelve months with the employer, at least 1,250 hours worked in the past year, and a worksite where the company employs fifty or more people nearby. See the family-leave rules.

8. In 2024 a federal court blocked a nationwide ban on noncompete agreements. What is the result?
A) All noncompetes are void everywhere
B) The federal ban never took effect, so noncompetes are still governed by state law
C) Only executives can be asked to sign one
D) Employers may now extend noncompetes indefinitely

Answer: B. The Federal Trade Commission issued a rule banning most noncompetes, but a Texas federal court set it aside in August 2024 before the effective date, ruling the agency had exceeded its authority. The trade commission can still pursue individual cases, and several states ban noncompetes on their own. Read a summary of the ruling.

9. What is the minimum age for most non-farm jobs in the United States?
A) Twelve
B) Fourteen
C) Sixteen
D) Eighteen

Answer: B. Fourteen is the floor for most non-agricultural work, with limits on hours and job types; sixteen opens up most jobs, while eighteen is the threshold for work the labor secretary has declared hazardous. See the youth employment rules.

10. Since 2023, what must larger employers provide to workers limited by pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions?
A) Nothing beyond standard sick days
B) Reasonable accommodations, unless it would cause undue hardship
C) Automatic paid leave
D) A transfer to a different company

Answer: B. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act took effect on June 27, 2023, requiring covered employers — generally those with fifteen or more workers — to provide reasonable accommodations such as light duty or schedule changes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the law, also bars retaliation for requesting an accommodation. Read the commission's explainer.

What Your Worker Rights Quiz Score Means

Eight to ten correct: you know the rules better than most managers. Five to seven: solid, but the questions you missed are the ones that cost real money — overtime thresholds, tip guarantees and break rules are where wage theft hides. Fewer than five: start your next shift with a pay-stub audit and a look at your state's labor website.

Knowing the rules is only half the battle. Enforcement is thin — federal investigators are stretched across an enormous workforce, so violations usually surface only when workers file complaints with the department's Wage and Hour Division or a state agency. Business groups counter that each new mandate raises costs for small employers, which is exactly why the rules keep shifting, as the blocked noncompete ban shows. Share this worker rights quiz with a coworker: the colleague most likely to be underpaid is the one who has never seen these answers.

This worker rights quiz is a starting point, not legal advice — state laws often go further than the federal floor, and details depend on your job. For a related read on how young employees navigate the modern workplace, see Gen Z Masks Its Work Personality, and Most Call It Unfair.