How to use the employer size threshold checker
The United States has no single small-business cutoff for employment law. Instead each statute carries its own headcount, and an employer can be covered by one law and exempt from the next. Enter your headcount to see which federal thresholds it reaches.
Legal basis — Title VII and the ADA apply to employers with 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year (42 U.S.C. 2000e(b); 42 U.S.C. 12111(5)). The ADEA uses the same week-counting test at 20 employees (29 U.S.C. 630(b)), as does COBRA (26 U.S.C. 4980B). The FMLA requires 50 employees within 75 miles (29 U.S.C. 2611(4)), the Affordable Care Act employer mandate applies at 50 full-time employees and equivalents (26 U.S.C. 4980H), and the WARN Act starts at 100 (29 U.S.C. 2101). By contrast the FLSA minimum wage and overtime rules and the OSHA general duty clause have no headcount threshold at all. Figures current as of September 2026.
State fair employment statutes routinely start lower, some from the first employee, so a business exempt from Title VII may still face a state discrimination claim.
This checker is for reference only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney about coverage for your specific business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generally anyone on the payroll for the working day, including part-time workers, whether or not they worked that day, under the payroll method the Supreme Court approved in Walters v. Metropolitan Educational Enterprises. Independent contractors are excluded, but misclassified workers may be counted, and related companies can be aggregated as a single integrated employer.
No. It means Title VII may not apply, but Section 1981 claims for race discrimination have no employee minimum, the Equal Pay Act follows FLSA coverage, and most states set far lower thresholds, with several covering employers with a single employee.