Product Updates

State Employment Law Update December 2017

State Employment Law Updates: December 2017

 

A number of new employment laws have gone into affect in several states.  Click on the State you are interested in to read summary overview of these new laws.

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Alaska

Alaska Minimum Wage

Alaska Minimum Wage
Reminder: The minimum wage in Alaska is scheduled to increase from $9.80 per hour to $9.84 per hour, effective January 1, 2017. School bus drivers must be paid two times the minimum wage rate (The State of Alaska, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Administrative Services Division, Research and Analysis Section, Minimum wage Determination, October 3, 2017).

Arizona

Arizona Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Arizona is scheduled to increase from $10 per hour to $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2018. Arizona’s state minimum wage does not apply to small businesses that have less than $500,000 in annual gross revenue and that are exempt under federal law.

California

California Background Checks

“Ban the box” (“Fair Chance” hiring) legislation is revised effect effective January 1, 2018.
Existing law prohibits an employer, whether a public agency or private individual or corporation, from asking an applicant for employment to disclose, or use as a factor in determining any condition of employment, information concerning an arrest or detention that did not result in a conviction, or information concerning a referral or participation in, any pretrial or post-trial diversion program, with certain exceptions.

The prohibition on a state or local agency from asking an applicant for employment to disclose information regarding a criminal conviction is repealed. Instead, it will be an unlawful employment practice under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) for an employer with five or more employees to include on any application for employment any question that seeks the disclosure of an applicant’ s conviction history, to inquire into or consider the conviction history of an applicant until that applicant has received a conditional offer, and, when conducting a conviction history background check, to consider, distribute, or disseminate information related to specified prior arrests, diversions, and convictions.

An employer who intends to deny an applicant a position of employment solely or in part because of the applicant’s conviction must make an individualized assessment of whether the applicant’s conviction history has a direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and must consider certain topics when making that assessment.

An employer who makes a preliminary decision to deny employment based on that individualized assessment must also provide the applicant written notification of the decision. New law is added to the California Government Code and existing law under the California Labor Code (Section 432.9) is repealed (Ch. 789 (A. 1008), L. 2017).

California Employment Verification/Immigration

Reminder: Under the California Labor Code, all protections, rights, and remedies available under state law, except as prohibited by federal law, are available to individuals regardless of immigration status who have applied for employment or who are or have been employed.

Effective January 1, 2018, for the purpose of enforcing state labor, employment, civil rights, consumer protection, and housing laws, a person’s immigration status is irrelevant to the issue of liability, and no inquiry shall be permitted into the person’s immigration status, except where necessary to comply with federal immigration law (Ch. 160 (A. 1690), L. 2017).

Employers must post notice in the language the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information to employees of any inspections of I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms or other employment records conducted by an immigration agency within 72 hours of receiving notice of an inspection.

In addition, except as otherwise required by federal law, employers are not to provide voluntary consent to an immigration enforcement agent to enter any nonpublic areas of the workplace. Employers are also not to provide voluntary consent to an immigration enforcement agent to access, review, or obtain the employer’s employee records without a subpoena or judicial warrant. Employers are not prohibited from challenging the validity of a subpoena or warrant in a federal district court. This does not serve to limit or restrict an employer’s compliance with a memorandum of understanding governing use of the federal E-Verify system (Ch. 492 (A. 450), L. 2017).

California Equal Pay

Reminder: The California Equal Pay Act is amended effective January 1, 2018, to extend coverage to public-sector employees. The measure adds a definition of “employer” to include “public and private employers.” The misdemeanor penalty provision for violations would not apply to public employers, however (Ch. 776 (A. 46), L. 2017).

New law has been added effective January 1, 2018, that will prohibit all employers, including the legislature and state and local governments, from seeking or relying on salary history information (including compensation and benefits) of a job applicant as a factor in determining whether to offer the applicant employment or what salary to offer the applicant. Also, employers will be required, upon reasonable request, to provide the pay scale for the position being applied for.

Applicants would not be prohibited from voluntarily and without prompting disclosing salary history information, and likewise would not prohibit the employer from considering or relying on that voluntarily disclosed information in determining salary. This provision will apply to all employers, including state and local government employers and the legislature, but does not apply to salary history information disclosable to the public pursuant to federal or state law (Ch. 688 (A. 168), L. 2017).

California Family and Medical Leave Law

The “New Parent Leave Act” has been enacted to increase workplace protections for new parents who work for small businesses. The bill provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid maternity or paternity leave for Californians who work for companies with 20 to 49 employees and protects these new parents from losing their jobs and health care benefits. Current law only provides that those who work for an employer of 50 or more are eligible for job-protected leave. Employers are prohibited from refusing to hire, or from discharging, firing, suspending, expelling, or discriminating against, an individual who exercises his or her right to such parental leave (Ch. 686 (S. 63), L. 2017).

California Farm Labor/Sexual Harassment Training

Reminder: Law requiring farm labor contractors to provide agricultural employees with training on sexual harassment prevention is amended to require a licensee, as part of the application for license renewal, to provide the labor commissioner with the total number of agricultural employees trained in the calendar year prior to the month of the renewal application. Failure to comply with training requirements will subject a farm labor contractor to citation and civil penalty (Ch. 424 (S. 295), L. 2017).

California Military Service Discrimination

Reminder: The Military and Veterans Code is amended to expand protections from discrimination based on membership or service “in terms, conditions or privileges of employment” and to provide that members of the State Military Reserve are to be granted military leave and other benefits, including reinstatement after such service, on the same basis as members of the National Guard or other military service members (Ch. 591 (A.1710) and Ch. 91 (A. 1711), L. 2017).

California Minimum Wage

The minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $11 per hour for employers with 26 employees or more and $10.50 for employers with 25 or fewer employees on January 1, 2018. State law requires that most California workers be paid the minimum wage. Some cities and counties have a local minimum wage that is higher than the state rate. Currently, the state minimum wage is $10.50 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees and $10 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees (State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, News Release No. 2017-110, December 4, 2017.)

California Overtime

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, the minimum wage rate computer software employees must receive to be exempt from state overtime requirements is adjusted to provide that, to be exempt, employee’s must earn at least $43.58 per hour, $7,565.85 per month, or an annual salary of at least $90,790.07. For licensed physicians and surgeons, the minimum hourly rate of pay exemption is $79.39.

An exemption from overtime compensation requirements under Labor Code Section 510 that applies to teachers of private elementary and secondary institutions if certain conditions are met is amended to specify that the standards apply to full-time employees and prescribes a revised earnings standard for exemption from overtime requirements for part-time employees (Ch. 99 (S. 621), L. 2017).

California Prevailing Wages

Reminder: California law relating to public works requires, among other things, payment of prevailing wages. Private residential projects built on private property are exempt unless the project is built pursuant to an agreement with a state agency, redevelopment agency, or local public housing authority. This law has been amended to also provide that the exemption would not apply to a residential project built pursuant to an agreement with a successor agency to a redevelopment agency (Ch. 610 (A. 199), L. 2017).

Also, the definition of “public works” for payment of prevailing wages includes construction, alteration, demolition, installation, or repair work done under contract and paid for in whole or in part out of public funds. Effective January 1, 2018, the definition of “public works” is expanded to include tree removal work on such projects (Ch. 616 (A. 1066), L. 2017).

California law relating to apprentices and prevailing wages is amended to require an apprenticeship program, to be eligible to receive grant funds from the council, to agree to keep adequate records that document the expenditure of those grant funds and make all records available to the department so that the department is able to verify that grant funds were used solely for training apprentices (Ch. 553 (A. 581), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

California Veterans’ Preference

Reminder: The state has enacted a law relating to civil service examination exemptions and certain hiring preferences for veterans. The new law authorizes the Department of Human Resources or a designated appointing authority to use a signed document by an applicant’s commanding officer of the military to verify an applicant’s military service (Ch. 237 (S. 410), L. 2017).

California Wage Payment

Reminder: For private construction project contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2018, a direct contractor making or taking a contract in California for the erection, construction, alteration, or repair of a building, structure, or other work, is to assume, and will be liable for, debt owed to a wage claimant that is incurred by a subcontractor, at any tier, acting under, by or for the direct contractor for the wage claimant’s performance of labor. Liability applies to unpaid wages, fringe benefits and other benefits or contributions, including interest owed, but does not extend to penalties or liquidated damages. A third party owed fringe or other benefit payments or contributions on a wage claimant’s behalf, as well as a joint labor-management cooperation committee, may bring a civil action against a direct contractor to enforce liability (Ch. 804 (A. 1701), L. 2017).

Also, new law has been enacted to require commission wages paid to any employee who is licensed under the Barbering and Cosmetology Act to be due and payable at least twice during each calendar month on a day designated in advance by the employer as the regular payday and would authorize the employee and employer to agree to a commission in addition to the base hourly rate.

Commission wages are wages paid to an employee who is licensed under that act for providing services for which a license is required when paid as a percentage or a flat sum portion of the sums paid to the employee by the client receiving the service, and for selling goods, provided that the employee is paid a regular base hourly rate of at least two times the state minimum wage rate in addition to commissions paid. The employee may be compensated for rest and recovery periods at a rate of pay not less than the employee’s regular base hourly rate (Ch. 831 (S. 490), L. 2017).

Retaliation for filing wage claims is prohibited in California. This law has been amended to provide that the Labor Commissioner, during the course of an investigation under the law, upon finding reasonable cause to believe that any person has engaged in or is engaging in a violation, may petition the superior court in any county in which the violation in question is alleged to have occurred or in which the person resides or transacts business, for appropriate temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, or both temporary and preliminary injunctive relief (S. 306, L. 2017).

California Whistleblower Protections

Reminder: The California Whistleblower Protection Act is amended to require that the auditor create an alternative system for submission to an independent investigator of allegations of improper governmental activity engaged or participated in by employees of the office (Ch. 605 (A. 31), L. 2017).

In any civil action or administrative proceeding, an employee may petition the superior court for temporary or preliminary injunctive relief. The law has also been amended to provide notice procedures and criteria for the court to evaluate in granting or denying the application for injunction. Injunctive relief granted under these provisions is not stayed pending appeal (Ch. 460 (S. 306), L. 2017).

Also, a licensed health facility is prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against a patient, employee, member of the medical staff, or any other health care worker of the health facility because that person has presented a grievance, complaint, or report to the facility, or has initiated, participated, or cooperated in an investigation or administrative proceeding related to the quality of care, services, or conditions at the facility. The maximum fine for willfully violating the law has been increased from not more than $20,000 to not more than $75,000 (Ch. 275 (A. 1102), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

California Workers Compensation

Employers are required to secure the payment of workers’ compensation for injuries incurred by their employees that arise out of, or in the course of, employment. Existing law requires an employer to provide all medical services reasonably required to cure or relieve the injured worker from the effects of the injury. Employers are also required to establish a utilization review process and further requires that specified requests for payment for treatment be submitted to the employer, or its insurer or claims administrator, within 30 days of the date the service was provided.

The law also establishes an independent medical review process to resolve disputes over a utilization review decision. Effective January 1, 2018, this provision is amended to require, in the case of emergency treatment services, requests for payment for treatment be submitted to the employer, or its insurer or claims administrator, within 180 days of the date the service was provided (Ch. 240 (S. 489), L. 2017).

The California Workers Compensation law is amended to require employers to provide immediate support from a nurse case manager for employees injured by an act of domestic terrorism, when such injuries arise out of and in the course of employment, to assist employees in obtaining necessary medical treatment and to assist providers of medical services in seeking authorization of medical treatment. The Governor must declare a state of emergency in connection with such act of terrorism (Ch. 736 (A. 44, L. 2017).

Effective January 1, 2018, an employer may object to any bill submitted by, or on behalf of, a provider who has been suspended for fraud or abuse (Ch. 300 (A. 1422), L. 2017).

Colorado

Colorado Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Colorado is scheduled to increase to $10.20 per hour on January 1, 2018. The minimum wage for tipped employees will increase to $7.18 per hour. If the employee’s tips plus cash wage of $7.18 per hour do not equal $10.20 per hour, the employer must make up the difference.
The new minimum wage is required by Article XVIII, Section 15 of the Colorado Constitution. Under the Constitutional provision, the minimum wage is increased annually by 90 cents each January 1 until it reaches $12 per hour on January 2020. Starting in 2021, the minimum wage is to be adjusted annually for cost-of-living increases, based on the Consumer Price Index used for Colorado. This minimum wage rate applies to employees who receive the state or federal minimum wage. For tipped employees, no more than $3.02 per hour in tip income may be used to offset the minimum wage.
The Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, has adopted Colorado Minimum Wage Order Number 34 (7 CCR 1103-1) to reflect the change (December Colorado Register, Notice of Permanent Rules Adopted, for the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, December 10, 2017.)

Colorado Unemployment Insurance

For 2018, the taxable wage base in Colorado will be $12,600, up $100 from the 2017 taxable wage base, which was $12,500.

Delaware

Delaware Equal Pay

Reminder: Effective December 14, the state’s Pay Equity law is amended to prohibit employers from inquiring into an applicant’s compensation history. An applicant may voluntarily disclose the information if he or she wishes to do so, and the bill explicitly permits discussion and negation of compensation expectations between an employer and applicants, so long as the employer does not affirmatively seek compensation history in the course of discussion and negotiation. An employer is permitted to seek and confirm such information after an offer, including compensation, has been negotiated, made, and accepted. The effective date of the bill is delayed by six months to allow employers to update their policies (Ch. 41 (H. 1, with amendment by Senate Amendment 1), L. 2017).

Florida

Florida Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Florida will increase from $8.10 per hour to $8.25 per hour on January 1, 2018 (Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, 2018 Florida Minimum Wage Calculations, October 13, 2017).

Hawaii

Hawaii Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Hawaii is scheduled to increase from $9.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2018.

Idaho

Idaho Unemployment Insurance

Contribution rates in Idaho for 2018 will range from 0.393% to 1.309% for positive-ratio employers and from 2.355% to 5.4% for deficit-ratio employers. The standard rate will be 1.374% in 2018.

Illinois

Illinois Disaster and Emergency Services Leaves

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, the Volunteer Emergency Worker Job Protection Act is amended by adding a new part that prohibits a public employer from disciplining an employee who is a volunteer emergency worker if the employee, in the scope of acting as a volunteer emergency worker, responds to an emergency phone call or text message during working hours that requests that person’s volunteer emergency services (P.A. 100-0324 (S. 1895), L. 2017).

Illinois Employee Training

Reminder: The Data Security on State Computers Act requires certain state employees to annually undergo training by the Department of Innovation and Technology concerning cybersecurity. The department may make the training an online course. Training must include detecting phishing scams, preventing spyware infections and identity theft, and preventing and responding to data breaches (P.A. 40 (H. 2371), L. 2017).

Illinois Violence in the Workplace

Reminder: The state has amended the Criminal Code of 2012 with respect to cyberstalking. A person commits illegal electronic monitoring when he or she knowingly installs, conceals, or otherwise places an electronic tracking software or spyware on an electronic communication device without the consent of all owners and primary users of the device for the purpose of monitoring or following the user or users of the software. Exceptions are provided (P.A.166 (H. 3251), L. 2017).

Iowa

Iowa Unemployment Insurance

Iowa contribution rates will be determined under Rate Table 7 in 2018, and will range from 0.0% to 7.5%. New non-construction employers will pay 1.0%, and new construction employers will pay 7.5%. Employers that receive a 0.0% rate still are required to file timely reports.

Kentucky

Kentucky Unemployment Insurance

For 2018, the rates listed in Schedule B are in effect. Those rates range from 0.40% to 2.70% for positive-balance employers, and from 6.75% to 9.25% for negative-balance employers. The new employer rate for 2018 is 2.7%, except new construction employers will pay 9.25%.

Maine

Maine Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Maine is scheduled to increase from $9 per hour to $10 per hour on January 1, 2018. For tipped employees, the minimum direct service wage is $5 per hour and the maximum tip credit on January 1, 2018, will be $5 per hour.

Michigan

Michigan Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Michigan is scheduled to increase from $8.90 per hour to $9.25 per hour on January 1, 2018.

Minnesota

Minnesota Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Minnesota is scheduled to increase from $9.50 per hour to $9.65 per hour. Small employers must pay a minimum wage of $7.87 per hour (increased from $7.75 per hour).

Large employers are those businesses with annual gross revenues of $500,000 or more. Smaller employers are those with annual gross revenues of less than $500,000. The youth rate of $7.87 per hour may be paid to employees younger than 18 years of age (Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, News Release, August 17, 2017).

Missouri

Missouri Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Missouri will increase from $7.70 per hour to $7.85 per hour on January 1, 2018.
All businesses are required to pay at least the $7.85 hourly rate, except for retail and service businesses whose annual gross sales are less than $500,000. Per state law, the minimum wage rate is calculated once a year and may increase or decrease based on the cost of living as measured by the previous year’s Consumer Price Index. Missouri law does not allow the state’s minimum wage rate to be lower than the federal minimum wage rate (currently $7.25 per hour).

Compensation for tipped employees must also total at least $7.85 per hour. Employers are required to pay tipped employees at least 50 percent of the minimum wage, or the amount necessary to bring the employee’s total compensation to a minimum of $7.85 per hour (Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Press Release, November 20, 2017,

Montana

Montana Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage is scheduled to increase from $8.15 per hour to $8.30 per hour on January 1, 2018.
For employers whose gross annual sales are $110,000 or less, employers may pay employees a minimum wage rate of $4.00 per hour (However, if an individual is producing or moving goods between states or is otherwise covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the employee must be paid the greater of either the state or federal minimum wage rates (Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Commissioner’s Office, Minimum Wage Determination, September 29, 2017).

Nevada

Nevada Child Labor

Reminder: Nevada’s child labor law provides that no child under the age of 16 may be employed at any gainful occupation, other than domestic service, as a performer in the production of a motion picture or work on a farm, more than 48 hours in any one week, or more than eight hours in any one day. The exemption from these work hour restrictions for domestic work will be removed as of January 1, 2018 (Ch. 550 (S. 232), L. 2017).

Nevada Garnishment

The maximum amount of the aggregate disposable earnings of a person which are subject to garnishment may not exceed: (a) 18% of the person’s disposable earnings for the relevant workweek if the person’s gross weekly salary or wage on the date the most recent writ of garnishment was issued was $770 or less; (b) 25% of the person’s disposable earnings for the relevant workweek if the person’s gross weekly salary or wage on the date the most recent writ of garnishment was issued exceeded $770; or (c) the amount by which the person’s disposable earnings for that week exceed 50 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 206(a)(1)of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. Sections 201 et seq., in effect at the time the earnings are payable, whichever is less. These restrictions do not apply in the case of: (a) any order of any court for the support of any person; (b) any order of any court of bankruptcy; (c) any debt due for any state or federal tax (Ch. 329 (S. 230), L. 2017, effective October 1, 2017).

Nevada Jury Duty and Court Attendance Leaves

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, employers are required to provide leave to an employee who has been employed with the employer for at least 90 days and who is the victim of domestic violence, or to such an employee whose family or household member is a victim of domestic violence and the employee is not the alleged perpetrator. An employee will be entitled to 160 hours of leave during a 12-month period. Such leave: (1) may be paid or unpaid; (2) must be used within the 12 months immediately following the date on which the act which constitutes domestic violence occurred; (3) may be used consecutively or intermittently; and (4) under certain circumstances, must be deducted from leave permitted by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (Ch. 496 (S. 361), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

Nevada Minimum Wage

Reminder: Effective as of January 1, 2018, employers, under the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights law, are required to provide written notice to employees specifying wages and hours and other conditions of employment. Employers must pay workers at least the minimum wage specified in Section 16 of Article 15 of the Nevada Constitution (Ch. 550 (S. 232), L. 2017).

Nevada Overtime Pay

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, overtime requirements do not apply to a domestic worker who resides in the household where he or she works if the domestic worker and his or her employer agree in writing to exempt the domestic worker from the requirements (Ch. 550 (S. 232), L. 2017).

Nevada Posters

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, Nevada employers are required to post in the workplace a bulletin issued by the Labor Commissioner that sets forth employee rights under the domestic violence leave law (Ch. 496 (S. 361), L. 2017). Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶29-9900.

Nevada Recordkeeping Requirements

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, employers are required per the Nevada Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights law to keep a record of the wages and hours of domestic workers employed, as required by Section 608.115 (Ch. 550 (S. 232), L. 2017).

New Jersey

New Jersey Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2018, the state minimum wage will increase from $8.44 per hour to $8.60 per hour. The change for 2018 is based on an increase in the cost of living of 1.9% for the period August 2016 to August 2017 (CPI-W, U.S. City Average) (State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance, Notice of Administrative Changes, Minimum Wage, September 29, 2017; N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1, as amended.

The New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1(a)) requires employees to be paid not less than the calculated minimum wage rate of $8.60 per hour, the federal minimum hourly wage rate (per 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)), or the rate provided under state statute 34:11-56a4, whichever is greatest. Since $8.60 is the higher rate, the new rate of $8.60 per hour will go into effect on January 1, 2018.

Also, the minimum wage for full-time county employees working at least 40 hours per week in Bergen County is now $15 per hour, per Executive Order signed by Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco on November 21, 2017.

New Jersey Posting Requirements

Employers are required to post in a conspicuous place the New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law Abstract (MW-220 (R-1-18)).

New Mexico

New Mexico Minimum Wage

The Las Cruces City Council has amended the city’s Minimum Wage Ordinance to prevent an increase to the hourly rate based on the cost of living from taking effect January 1, 2018. As a result, the minimum wage will remain at $9.20 per hour, and $3.68 per hour for tipped workers through 2018. The next increase will take effect January 1, 2019, when the rate will increase to $10.10 per hour, and for tipped workers, $4.04 per hour. Increases to the minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index will commence on January 1, 2020, and will be evaluated and assessed annually thereafter.

New York

New York Health Insurance Benefit Coverage

The state has amended its insurance law with respect to mammograms, allowing specified screenings to be provided by breast tomosynthesis (Ch. 414 (A. 5677), L. 2017).

New York Military Leave

Military leave for public officers and employees is amended to authorize additional paid leave for combat veterans employed by the state.

Every public officer or employee employed by the state of New York who served in a combat theater or combat zone of operations as documented by a copy of his or her DD214, certificate of release or discharge from active duty, or other applicable department of defense documentation, shall be paid his or her salary or other compensation for any and all periods of absence while using any healthcare-related services related to such duty, not exceeding eight working days, in any one calendar year (Ch. 406 (S. 2911), L. 2017, effective March 11, 2018). Full Text, State Employment Law Library ¶33-58,005. Summaries, State Employment Law Library ¶33-7200.

New York Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in New York is scheduled to increase December 31, 2017, as follows: $13 per hour for large employers in New York City with 11 or more employees; $12 per hour for small employers in New York City with 10 or fewer employees; $11 per hour in Long Island and Westchester; and $10.40 per hour for the remainder of the state.

The New York Department of Labor has proposed rulemaking to amend the Minimum Wage Order for Miscellaneous Industries and Occupations (12 NYCRR 142-2.3 and 142-3.3) to strengthen protections for employees who report to work, report for unscheduled shifts, have shifts cancelled at the last minute, are required to be on-call, and who are required to call-in to be scheduled for work. The proposed regulation includes provisions addressing the calculation and applicability of call-in pay under various circumstances. The proposed rule does not apply to local governments. The proposed rules, published in the November 22, 2017, New York State Register, are subject to a 45-day comment period (New York Department of Labor, Proposed Rule Making, Employee Scheduling (Call-in Pay), New York State Register, November 22, 2017, I.D. No. LAB-47-17-00011-P.

North Carolina

North Carolina Employee Misclassification

Reminder: Effective December 31, 2017, the Employee Fair Classification Act is enacted. The Act establishes the Employee Classification Section within the Industrial commission. The Section will have the duty of being available during business hours to receive reports of employee misclassification, by telephone, in writing or by electronic communication; investigate reports of employee misclassification; coordinate with state agencies in recovering any back taxes, wages, benefits, penalties, or other monies owed as a result of such misclassification; provide information to state agencies to facilitate possible violations; create a publicly available notice that includes the definition of employee misclassification; and develop methods and strategies to inform and educate employers, employees and the public about proper classification of employees and the prevention of employee misclassification (Session Law 2017-203 (S. 407)).

North Carolina Minimum Wage

Reminder: Effective December 31, 2017, employers covered under the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act are required to display a poster summarizing the major provisions of the Act in every covered establishment (Session Law 2017-203 (S. 407)).

North Carolina Posters

Employers are required to display posters provided by the North Carolina Department of Labor. The posters are printed in two sections to include the Wage and Hour Notice to Employees and the Occupational Safety and Health Notice. The posters have been updated to include the required information pertaining to the North Carolina Employee Fair Classification Act. The new information is included on the Wage and Hour Notice to Employees section of the posters. In addition, the posters have been updated to include the Department’s new Internet address, https://www.labor.nc.gov/.

North Carolina Unemployment Insurance

The taxable wage base in North Carolina for 2018 will be $23,500, up $400 from the 2017 taxable wage base amount of $23,100 (ESC Communication).

Ohio

Ohio Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Ohio is scheduled to increase from $8.15 per hour to $8.30 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. For tipped employees, the minimum wage will increase from $4.08 per hour to $4.15 per hour, plus tips. The minimum wage will apply to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $305,000 per year.
Employers who gross less than $305,000 must pay employees no less than the current federal minimum wage rate, which is $7.25 per hour. Employees under the age of 16 must be paid no less than the current federal minimum wage rate, $7.25 per hour.

Ohio Unemployment Insurance

For 2018, Ohio contribution rates will range from 0.3% to 9.0%. The mutualized rate is 0.0%. The new employer rate for 2018 will be 2.7%, except that new employers in the construction industry will pay a rate of 6.0%. The maximum rate (delinquency rate) will be 11.3%. The taxable wage base for 2018 will be $9,500, an increase of $500 from the 2017 amount of $9,000.

Oregon

Oregon Maximum Hours and Overtime

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, an exemption from the regulation of hours of employment of employees engaged in production, harvesting, packing, curing, canning, freezing or drying any variety of agricultural crops, livestock, poultry or fish is removed, and maximum hour and overtime requirements are put in place for these occupations as well as for seafood processors (Ch. 685 (H.B. 3458), L. 2017).

Oregon Wage payment

Employers are prohibited from coercing an employee to create, file or sign documents containing information the employer knows is false related to hours worked or compensation received by the employee. In addition to any other remedy available by law, an employee has a private right of action for such violations. The court may award actual damages or $1,000 for each violation, whichever is greater, injunctive relief, attorney fees and costs. Each pay period in which a violation occurs or continues is considered a separate violation.

In addition, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries may assess a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, with each pay period in which a violation occurs or continues as a separate violation (Ch. 211 (H. 3008), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Rhode Island will increase from $9.60 per hour to $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2018 (H. 5175), L. 2017).

South Dakota

South Dakota Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in South Dakota is scheduled to increase from $8.65 per hour to $8.85 per hour on January 1, 2018.
The hourly minimum wage for tipped employees will increase from $4.325 per hour to $4.425 per hour effective January 1, 2018, half the minimum wage for non-tipped employees (South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, News Release, September 21, 2017).

Vermont

Vermont Minimum Wage

Reminder: The minimum wage in Vermont is scheduled to increase from $10 per hour to $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2018.

Vermont Pregnancy/Maternity Discrimination

Reminder: Effective January 1, 2018, it will be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee’s pregnancy-related condition, unless to do so would impose an undue hardship. “Pregnancy-related condition” is defined to mean a limitation of an employee’s ability to perform the functions of a job caused by pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. (H. 136, L. 2017).

Washington

Washington Minimum Wage

Reminder: Washington’s minimum wage rate will increase to $11.50 per hour beginning January 1, 2018, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries announced on September 29, 2017. Workers who are 14 or 15 years old may be paid 85% of the minimum wage, or $9.78 per hour on January 1. This increase is part of a series of scheduled increases put in place by 2016 voter-approved Initiative 1433, which provides for the minimum wage to increase annually to $11.50 per hour in 2018, $12 in 2019, and to $13.50 in 2020. Starting January 2021, the minimum wage will be calculated by the Department based on inflation. In addition, starting January 1, 2018, employers in Washington will be required to provide their employees with paid sick leave (Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 2018 Minimum Wage Announcement, September 2017).

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance

For 2018, Schedule D is in effect. Rates (including the solvency rate) under Schedule D range from 0.00% to 12.0%. In addition, the rate for newly liable construction employers with payrolls of $500,000 and over is 3.90% for 2018 and the rate for newly liable construction employers with payrolls under $500,000 is 3.75%. The general new employer rate is 3.25% for employers with payrolls of $500,000 and over and the general new employer rate is 3.05% for employers with payrolls under $500,000.