The Ohio Department of Commerce has announced that Ohio’s minimum wage rate will stay the same next year. The current minimum wage rate is $8.10 per hour for nontipped employees and $4.05 per hour for tipped employees. The state minimum wage applies to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $297,000 per Read more
Six Canadian provinces will increase their minimum wage rates this fall. Several of the provinces are increasing their minimum wage rates based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and earnings averages over the last year. The annual adjustment allows the minimum wage rate to keep up with increases in the cost of living. The provinces Read more
To help prevent wages from being stolen and help retrieve some of this money, Jersey City has passed a Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance. Under the ordinance, the City will have the power to deny or suspend an employer’s Jersey City issued business license if the employer is found guilty of wage theft and refuses to Read more
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in removing barriers to employment for qualified individuals with a criminal record as seen by the proliferation of “Ban the Box” laws. Generally, these laws prohibit an employer from requiring a prospective employee to disclose a criminal conviction on a job application or before a conditional Read more
Last month, Alaska became the latest state to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Department of Labor. Like the other states’ agreements with the U.S. Department of Labor, Alaska’s agreement is an attempt to fight employee misclassification. Alaska’s agencies will work together with the U.S. Department of Labor to prevent and reduce Read more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced an increase in the minimum wage rate for workers on federal construction and service contracts effective January 1, 2016. The minimum wage rate will increase from the current rate of $10.10 per hour to $10.15 per hour. The minimum cash wage for tipped workers will increase from Read more
On January 1, 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised their recordkeeping rules. Employers under Federal OSHA’s jurisdiction have to report all work-related fatalities within eight hours. Employers also have to report all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations, and all losses of an eye within 24 hours. Before these changes, employers were only Read more
On July 29, 2015, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed rule to clarify that employers have a continuing obligation to make and maintain accurate records of work-related recordable injuries and illnesses. This position makes it an ongoing violation each day an employer fails to make or keep required records for up Read more
On July 22, 2015, Governor Douglas A. Ducey issued an executive order (2015-06) providing the state of Arizona the authority to perform credit, criminal and other background checks of prospective gubernatorial appointees and employees of the Office of the Governor. Currently, consumer reporting agencies can provide consumer reports to private employers for employment purposes under Read more
Starting next year, many employers in the District of Columbia will be required to provide employees with a ride to work. The District’s Sustainable DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2014 (“Act”)(D.C. Law 20-142), Section 302, requires employers with 20 or more employees to offer one of several transportation fringe benefits to employees beginning January 1, Read more
