wage hour law

AR Removes Work Restrictions for 17 Year Olds

The Payroll Advisor State wage hour law, Wage and Hour Law ,

To give employers more flexibility in hiring and allow more opportunities for older teens to be employed, the state legislature has enacted emergency legislation that removes work hour restrictions for 17-year-old workers in Arkansas. Act 162 (H.B. 1116) amends the Arkansas child labor law to remove the work hour restrictions for those who are 17 years of age. Instead, the work hour restrictions will apply to a child under 17 years of age.

NY Raises Tipped Minimum Wage

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New York’s Acting Labor Commissioner Mario J. Musolino issued an Order on February 24, 2015, responding to the report and recommendations of the 2014 Hospitality Wage Board, accepting many of the Board’s recommendations including the highest ever wage for tipped workers in New York—$7.50 per hour effective December 31, 2015.

Tipped workers are paid a required base rate. Their tips added to that base pay must equal or exceed the minimum wage.

The Department of Labor accepted the following recommendations from the Wage Board:

(1)

Uniform tip amounts and criteria for all tipped workers in the hospitality industry, so that the same rates apply to food service workers, service employees and service employees in resort hotels.
(2)

Increase the tipped cash wage amounts from their current rates of $4.90, $5.00 and $5.65, which have not increased since 2011, to $7.50 per hour, effective December 31, 2015.
(3)

If the legislature enacts a separate minimum wage rate for New York City, then the cash wage for such workers must be increased by $1, effective on the date that such separate minimum wage rate for New York City takes effect.
(4)

A review of whether the system of cash wages and tip credits should be eliminated.

NJ Getting Tough on Classifying Contractors

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As a result of a recent New Jersey Supreme Court ruling, New Jersey businesses will be subject to much stricter scrutiny when it comes to classifying workers as independent contractors.  In the case, Sam Hargrove, et.al.v Sleepy’s LLC, the court concluded that the “ABC” test under the New Jersey Unemployment Compensation Act will be used to determine a worker’s status for claims under both the WPL and WHL and not the FLSA’s economic realities test.

 

NJ ABC Test Worker is Independent Contractor if all of these apply:
A Such individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of such service, both under his contract of service and in fact; and
B Such service is either outside the usual course of the business for which such service is performed, or that such service is performed outside of all the places of business of the enterprise for which such service is performed; and
C Such individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

DC Wage Theft Prevention Act Update

The Payroll Advisor Pending Legislation, State wage hour law, Wage and Hour Law , , ,

The District of Columbia Department of Employment Security has announced via its website that the recent amendments to the District’s wage-hour law contained in the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2015 are expected to take effect on February 26, 2015.  The legislation is still pending approval by Congress.  Among the amendments includes the requirement that employers provide a written statement of wage information to employees. The initial notice must contain:

  • The employer’s name
  • Any “doing business as” names used by the employer
  • Physical address of the employer’s main office or principal place of business
  • Employer’s mailing address
  • Employer’s telephone number
  • Employee’s rate of pay and the basis of that rate (by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission)
  • Any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage: tip, meal, or lodging allowances
  • The employee’s overtime rate of pay
  • Exemptions from overtime pay
  • Living wage
  • Exemptions from the living wage
  • Applicable prevailing wages

The notice must be furnished to employees both in English and in the employee’s primary language, and must be signed and dated by the employer and the employee.  The employer must then retain copies of all the notices furnished to the employee for at least three years.  The mayor is supposed to provide a model notice for employers to use.

CA Adds Sick Leave Section to Wage Theft Form

The Payroll Advisor sick leave law, Wage and Hour Law , , ,

After January 1, 2015, employers are required to provide most employees with an employee notice (as required under California Labor Code section 2810.5) that now includes paid sick leave information. The revised employee notice form must be used for employees hired after January 1, 2015. For employees hired prior to January 1, 2015, the employer is required to provide a revised employee notice to each employee if compliance with the new paid sick leave law causes a change in the employer’s sick leave policy within 7 days of the change.

Template of Notice

Independent Contractor vs. Employee Another Round: Florida Jumps in the Ring

The Payroll Advisor Tax Law, Wage and Hour Law , ,

Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Florida Department of Revenue today signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement. The MOU represents a new effort on the part of the agencies to work together to protect the rights of employees and level the playing field for responsible employers by reducing the practice of misclassification. The Florida Department of Revenue is the latest state agency to partner with the Labor Department.

Memoranda of understanding with state government agencies arose as part of the DOL’s Misclassification Initiative, with the goal of preventing, detecting and remedying employee misclassification. Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New York, Utah and Washington state agencies have signed similar agreements.

Friday is Round Up Day!

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When it comes to updates to payroll not all are created equal but all are important–Some, just not right now. Updates to pension plans or the social security wage base—those we want and need to know right now. But other items, I need them but in the next week or so will do. These include items like SUI wage bases and rates, minimum wage updates for next year, and withholding tax tables for next year being released just to name a few. I have already blogged on the fact that I was holding on to the SUI wage bases and doing a once a week blog on them only. But as for the others, well let’s face doing a blog on “the minimum wage increased in Arizona” results in a very short blog. So I am expanding. What will now be known as our Friday is Round Up Day (yes those of you whose childhood goes that far back will remember that from a “certain mouse’s club’s” daily afternoon show) I will list the roundup from the states of such items as withholding tables, SUI wage bases, minimum wage increases or changes, filing electronically changes, same sex marriages updates, etc. I hope you find it informative. If you want these faster than weekly please sign up for our Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn updates as it will be posted daily there as they come in.

 

Alabama: Just a reminder effective October 20, 2014 all employers submitting 25 or more Forms W-2 must submit such information and Form A-3 electronically through the Department’s website. This is down from 50 in past years.

Arkansas: 2015 Withholding tax tables issued and available on the Department of Finance and Administration website

Florida: The minimum for 2015 will be $8.05.

Maryland: The withholding tables will not change for wages paid on and after January 1, 2015. For 2015 employers will use the same fourteen withholding brackets.

Missouri: 2015 SUI wage base and rates will remain the same as 2014, $13,000. The voluntary contribution deadline is January 15, 2015.

New York: Yonkers is revising the income tax withholding tables for wages paid after 1-1-15. The supplemental rates will be:

Yonkers resident: 1.61135%

Nonresident: .050%

The resident rate decreases from the 2014 rate of 1.84704%

copy of rule making

North Carolina: As the result of recent court rulings that overturned the state’s ban on same-gender marriage, the North Carolina Department of Revenue issued a directive providing for new income tax filing procedures for affected individuals. Employers should note that the directive states that North Carolina employees who have entered into a same-gender marriage must furnish to you a new Form NC-4 or NC-4 EZ.