State Employment Law Update October 2017

Alaska

Alaska Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Alaska will rise from $9.80 to $9.84 effective January 1, 2018.

Pursuant to Alaska Statute 23.10.065, the Alaska minimum wage is to be adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for the Anchorage metropolitan area (Anchorage CPI-U) for the proceeding January-December calendar year. The Anchorage CPI-U increased 0.4% in 2016, rising from 216.909 to 217.830. As a result, the state minimum wage will increase by four cents to $9.84 on January 1, 2018.

The Alaska minimum wage increase applies to all employees in the private sector, whether working in a for-profit, not-for-profit or non-profit business. Tips do not count toward the minimum wage. Also, under Alaska Statute 23.20.065, public school bus driver wages must be compensated at not less than twice the current state minimum wage rate.

Alaska Statute 23.10.055 requires certain exempt employees to be paid on a salary basis at a rate not less than twice the state minimum wage based on a 40-hour workweek

SOURCE: The State of Alaska, Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Administrative Services Division, Research and Analysis Section, Minimum wage Determination, October 3, 2017.

California

California Background Checks

The state has amended its background checks law with respect to what may be included in state summary criminal history information (Ch. 299 (A. 1418) and Ch. 333 (S. 420), L. 2017).

California Employment Verification, Immigration

The California Labor Code makes a legislative finding and declaration that 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.

This law has been amended to instead find and declare that 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 that 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, effective January 1, 2018).

Private and public employers are not to re-verify a current employee's eligibility in any manner other than that prescribed by federal law. Employers who violate the law may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

Also, 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, effective January 1, 2018).

California Family Leave

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.

Specifically, employees who have been employed more than 12 months with the employer, and who have at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, and who work at a worksite in which the employer employs at least 20 employees within 75 miles, will be able to take, upon request, the parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child's birth, adoption, or foster care placement. Employees will be entitled to use accrued vacation pay, paid sick time, other accrued time off, or other paid or unpaid time off negotiated with the employer, during the period of parental 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 Prevention Training

Under the California Labor Code, farm labor contractors are required to provide agricultural employees with training on sexual harassment prevention, in the language understood by the employee.

In addition, a licensee, as part of his or her application for license renewal, must provide the commissioner with a complete list of all materials or resources used to provide sexual harassment prevention training of employees in the calendar year prior to the month the renewal application is submitted.

The law has been amended to require a licensee, as part of that application for license renewal, to provide to the commissioner the total number of agricultural employees trained in sexual harassment prevention in the calendar year prior to the month the renewal application is submitted.

The commissioner will be required to aggregate the data provided by licensees regarding the number of employees trained, and publish on his or her Internet website the total number of agricultural employees trained in the previous calendar year.

Further, it will be a violation of existing laws relating to farm labor contractors to fail to comply with specific existing provisions relating to the training requirements or the law's requirement to provide the training in the language understood by the employee. The labor commissioner is authorized to issue citations and assess civil penalties of $100 for each violation (Ch. 424 (S. 295), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

California Military Leave

California's Military and Veterans Code prohibits discrimination against service members based on their membership or service, including discrimination with respect to his or her employment.

This law has been amended to expand the scope of these prohibitions by prohibiting discrimination “in terms, conditions, or privileges” of employment, which would expand the scope of a crime, and thus impose a state-mandated local program (Ch. 591 (A. 1710), L. 2017).

Also, the public employment military leave law has been amended to provide that a member of the State Military Reserve is to be granted military leave and other benefits, including reinstatement after such service, on the same basis as for a member of the National Guard or other military reserve member (Ch. 92 (A. 1711), L. 2017).

California Overtime Pay

The Department of Industrial Relations, in accordance with Labor Code Section 515.5(a)(4), has adjusted the computer software employee's minimum hourly rate of pay exemption from $42.35 to $43.58, the minimum monthly salary exemption from $7,352.62 to $7,565.85, and the minimum annual salary exemption from $88,231.36 to $90,790.07, effective January 1, 2018, reflecting a 2.9% increase in the cost of living.

In accordance with Labor Code Section 515.6(a), the Department has adjusted the licensed physicians and surgeons employee's minimum hourly rate of pay exemption from $77.15 to $79.39 effective January 1, 2018, also reflecting an increase of 2.9%.

California Labor Code Sections 515.5 and 515.6 provide exemptions from state overtime requirements under Labor Code Section 510 for both computer software employees and for licensed physicians and surgeons if certain criteria are met. One of the criteria is that the employee's hourly rate of pay is not less than a certain amount, and this amount is adjusted each year on October 1 to be effective on January 1 of the following year, based on the percentage increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CCPI).

Assembly Bill 10, L. 2008, amended Section 515.5 to extend the exemption for computer software employees to salaried employees whose annual and monthly salaries are not less than the statutorily specified rates, which the department is responsible for adjusting each October 1, effective the following January 1.

The adjustments for 2018 are based on the CCPI for the period August 2016 (246.735) to August 2017 (253.874) and reflect an increase of 2.9% (State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director—Research Unit, Memorandum from Maria Y. Robbins, Deputy Chief, Office of the Director, to Christine Baker, Director, DIR, on the subject of Overtime Exemption for Computer Software Employees, October 3, 2017.); State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, Office of the Director—Research Unit, Memorandum from Maria Y. Robbins, Deputy Chief, Office of the Director, to Christine Baker, Director, DIR, on the subject of Overtime Exemption for Licensed Physicians and Surgeons, October 3, 2017).

California Prevailing Wages

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.

In addition, the definition of “public works” has been expanded to include specific types of tree removal work (Ch. 616 (A.B. 1066), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

Also, the law requiring apprentices employed on public works projects to be paid the prevailing rate of per diem wages for apprentices in the trade to which he or she is registered has been amended.

Under the law, a contractor who employs apprentices on a public works project is required to contribute specific funds to the California Apprenticeship Council that are used by the council to fund grants to approved apprenticeship programs for the purpose of training apprentices and pay certain expenses of the Department of Industrial Relations.

This law has been 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.

In addition, the department will be required to verify that grants made by the council are used solely for training apprentices. An apprenticeship program that is unable to demonstrate how grant funds are expended or an apprenticeship program that is found to be using grant funds for purposes other than training apprentices will be prohibited from being eligible to receive any future grant from the council under these provisions and would authorize the department to initiate the process to rescind the registration of the apprenticeship program (Ch. 553 (A. 581), L. 2017, effective January 1, 2018).

California Veterans' Preference

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

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.

If an employee has been discharged or faced adverse action for raising a claim of retaliation for asserting rights under any law under the jurisdiction of the Labor Commissioner, a court shall order appropriate injunctive relief on a showing that reasonable cause exists to believe that an employee has been discharged or subjected to adverse action for raising a claim of retaliation or asserting rights under any law under the jurisdiction of the Labor Commissioner. The temporary injunctive relief shall remain in effect until the Labor Commissioner issues a determination or citations, or until the completion of review, whichever period is longer, or at a time certain set by the court. Notwithstanding Section 916 of the Code of Civil Procedure, such injunctive relief shall not be stayed pending appeal.

Following an investigation of retaliation or discrimination, the Labor Commissioner may determine that a violation has occurred and proceed with a citation to cease and desist from the violation, and may take any action necessary to remedy the violation, including, where appropriate, rehiring or reinstatement, reimbursement of lost wages with interest, and posting notice to employees. A person issued a citation may seek review of a decision with the Labor Commissioner.

An employer who willfully refuses to comply with a final order to hire, promote, or otherwise restore an employee or former employee who has been determined to be eligible for relief, or who refuses to comply with an order to post a notice to employees or otherwise cease and desist from the violation, in addition to any other penalties available, shall be subject to a penalty of $100 per day for each day the employer continues to be in noncompliance with the order, up to a maximum $20,000. Any penalty pursuant to this section shall be paid to the affected employee (S. 306, L. 2017).

Salary History

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 Whistleblower Protection

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).

Whistleblower protections have been amended to provide that 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).

Colorado

Colorado Discrimination on Public Works Projects

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, adopted the Keep Jobs in Colorado Act Rules on July 11, 2017. The rules, at 7 CCR 1103-6, implement the discrimination on public works contracts law, which is codified at Colorado Revised Statutes Section 8-17-101 et seq. The new rules went into effect on September 1, 2017.

Colorado Employment Opportunity Act

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, has adopted Employment Opportunity Act Rules to provide the Director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics with the authority to adopt and amend rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of the Colorado Employment Opportunity Act. The rules were published in the Colorado Register on August 10, 2017, and became effective September 1, 2017.

Colorado Labor Relations

The Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, adopted the Colorado Rules of Procedure to the Colorado Labor Peace Act and Industrial Relations Act Rules, Code of Colorado Regulations, 7 CCR 1101-1, on July 11, 2017. These rules implement the Colorado Labor Peace Act and Industrial Relations Act and become effective on September 1, 2017 (Published August 10, 2017, Colorado Register).

Colorado Minimum Wage

The Colorado minimum wage is scheduled to increase on January 1, 2018, to $10.20 per hour. The Director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics has proposed adoption of Colorado Minimum Wage Order Number 34 to reflect the new state minimum wage rate.

Currently, the minimum wage is $9.30 per hour. Section 15 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution increased Colorado's minimum wage to $9.30 per hour effective January 1, 2017, and provides for 90 cent increases each year on January 1 until the state minimum wage reaches $12 per hour in 2020, and provides thereafter that the minimum wage is to increase annually based on increases in the cost of living. The minimum wage applies to employees who receive the state or federal minimum wage. No more than $3.02 per hour in tip income may be used to offset the minimum wage of employees who regularly receive tips.

Rules implementing the Colorado Social Media and the Workplace Law have been adopted by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics, effective September 1, 2017. 7 CCR 1103-5.

Connecticut

Connecticut Military Nondiscrimination

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy has acted to reinforce the state's nondiscrimination policies within the Connecticut Military Department. His move came on the same day that President Donald Trump announced his intention to ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.

Executive Order No. 60 directs the Connecticut National Guard, the Connecticut Air National Guard, and the other armed forces of the state “to take no action that discriminates against service members in enlistment, promotion, or any other aspect of their service, on the basis of their gender identity or expression, unless superseded by federal law, regulation, or formal directive from the U.S. Department of Defense.” Signed by the governor on July 26, 2017, the order went into effect immediately.

Connecticut Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed Executive Order No. 60 on July 26, 2017, to Order that state armed forces, including the Connecticut National Guard and Connecticut Air National Guard, “shall take no action that discriminates against service members in enlistment, promotion, or any other aspect of their service, on the basis of their gender identity or expression, unless superseded by federal law, regulation, or formal directive from the Department of Defense.”

Further, the Order requires the Military Department to review existing personnel policies and any formal directive from the Department of Defense or other federal entity to ensure that service members are afforded maximum protection and opportunity to serve, regardless of gender identity or expression, and to minimize any discriminatory impact on service members from any federal directive. Additionally, absent formal, official communications from those legally designated to issue such communications, the Military Department and armed forces of the state shall take no action that negatively impacts any service member.

Deleware

Delaware Family Leave

The state has enacted a law providing that mothers who are full time state employees may have up to six weeks of unpaid leave following the newborn discharge from the hospital, even if their FMLA benefits have been exhausted (Ch. 166 (H. 64), L. 2017).

Florida

Florida Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Florida will increase by 15 cents, from the current $8.10 per hour to $8.25 per hour on January 1, 2018.

Tipped employees must be paid a direct hourly wage of $5.23 as of January 1, 2018. The direct wage for tipped employees is calculated as equal to the minimum wage of $8.25 minus the 2003 tip credit of $3.02, for a direct hourly wage of $5.23.

Florida law requires the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity to calculate the minimum wage rate each year, based on the percentage increase in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers in the South Region for the 12-month period prior to September 1, 2017. The change for 2018 reflects a 1.84% change in the cost of living.

In November 2004, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment which created Florida's minimum wage. The minimum wage applies to all employees in the state who are covered by the federal minimum wage. Employers must pay their employees the hourly state minimum wage for all hours worked in Florida. Employees who are not paid the minimum wage may bring a civil action against the employer or any person violating the law. The state attorney general may also bring an enforcement action to enforce the law.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, 2018 Florida Minimum Wage Calculations, October 13, 2017).

Florida employers who must pay employees the Florida minimum wage are required to post a minimum wage notice in a conspicuous and accessible place in each establishment where employees work.

Illinois

Illinois Employee Misclassification

The Employee Misclassification Referral System has been established to require the Department of Labor to create an online referral system on its Internet website to handle and refer complaints of misclassification of employees to the appropriate agency or agencies based on information supplied by the individual making a complaint.

The System is to use one form that contains all of the necessary information required for complaints directed to the Department of Employment Security, the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, the Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor. The Department is also to include links for filing of complaints with the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration (PA. 100-536 (S. 1978), L. 2017, enacted September 22, 2017, and effective June 1, 2018).

Illinois Employee Training

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 Labor Relations

The Illinois Public Labor Relations Act has been amended relating to unfair labor practices and filing of appeals following a final order of the Illinois Labor Relations Board, to add a clause that states the filing of such an appeal to the Appellate Court shall not automatically stay the enforcement of the Board's order.

An aggrieved party may apply to the Appellate Court for a stay of the enforcement of the Board's order after the aggrieved party has followed the procedure prescribed by Supreme Court Rule 335 (making a showing of good cause in accordance with the Administrative Review Law) (P. A. 100-516 (H. 622), L. 2017).

Illinois Veterans' Preference

The state has amended its Personnel Code to provide that, for the purpose of veteran preferences, members of the Illinois National Guard or a reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces are considered veterans regardless of whether or not the person was mobilized to active duty. Additionally, if an applicant claims to be a veteran, the Department of Central Management Services must verify that status before granting a veteran preference by requiring a certified copy of the applicant's recent NGB-22 form (P.A. 496 (H. 3261), L. 2017, enacted and effective September 8, 2017).

Illinois Violence in the Workplace

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).

Illinois Wage Payment

The Day and Temporary Labor Services Act has been amended to require that day and temporary labor services agencies attempt to place a current temporary or day laborer into a permanent position with a client when the client informs the agency of its plan to hire a permanent employee for a position or like positions for which employees are being provided by the agency at the same work location.

The Act also requires day and temporary labor service agencies to submit to the Department of Labor each year at time of registration a report that contains information on the race and gender of each day or temporary laborer sent to an employer, broken down by branch office and aggregated for all day and temporary laborers assigned within Illinois in the prior year. Information and reports submitted to the Department of Labor are exempt from inspection and copying under the Freedom of Information Act.

No day and temporary labor service agency or third party client shall charge any day or temporary laborer for the expense of conducting any consumer report, any criminal background check, or any drug test.

Also, the Act has been amended to provide return transportation for workers if they were provided transportation from the point of application to the worksite by the hiring labor service agency, unless the day or temporary laborer advises or agrees prior to leaving for the place of employment to obtain alternative transportation after the work shift is completed (P.A. 100-0517 (H. 690), L. 2017, effective June 1, 2018).

Indiana

Indiana Background Checks

Governor Eric J. Holcomb has signed an executive order creating fair chance hiring policies in Indiana state government. Effective July 1, 2017, initial employment applications for job openings within the executive branch of the State of Indiana will no longer ask applicants if they have been arrested or convicted of a crime.

“This executive order will give Hoosiers with criminal records a second chance by helping them overcome the stigma of their past and live productive lives,” Governor Holcomb said. “We are giving those with criminal records more opportunity to seek public service as a state employee.” (Executive Order 17-15, June 29, 2017, and effective July 1, 2017).

Montana

Montana Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Montana will increase from $8.15 per hour to $8.30 per hour beginning January 1, 2018, Governor Steve Bullock announced on September 29, 2017. The increase reflects a change in the cost of living of 1.939% for the period August 2016, to August 2017.

State law requires a minimum wage adjustment annually based on changes in inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from August of the preceding year to August of the year in which the calculation is made. An adjustment is to be calculated no later than September 30 of each year based upon any increase in the CPI and rounded to the nearest five cents (State of Montana, Office of the Governor, Press Release, September 29, 2017; Montana Department of Labor and Industry, Commissioner's Office, Press Release,September 29, 2017).

New Jersey

New Jersey Smoking in the Workplace

Smoking or carrying a lighted tobacco product is prohibited in public places and places of public accommodation, as well as on busses, school busses and other public conveyances, where prohibited by a municipal ordinance or by the owner/operator of the public accommodation. Persons who smoke or carry a lighted tobacco product where prohibited are subject to a civil penalty of no more than $200. Adequate notice of the prohibition must be conspicuously posted (Ch. 191 (S. 1731), L. 2017).

New Mexico

New Mexico Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2018, the minimum wage in Albuquerque will be $8.95 per hour. An employer may pay his or her employee a reduced wage of $7.95 per hour if the employer provides healthcare and/or childcare benefits to the employee during any pay period, and the employer pays an amount for the benefits equal to or in excess of an annualized cost of $2,500.

The minimum wage for tipped employees will be $5.35 per hour effective January 1, 2018. Tipped employees must be paid 60% of the minimum wage in 2018.

The City of Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance requires the City to post the adjusted minimum wage and the adjusted tipped wage for the forthcoming year on the City's Internet home page each year by October 15. The increases for 2018 are based on a 1.932% change in the cost of living, based on the Consumer Price Index, Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, August 2016 (234.909) to August 2017 (239.448). This results in an $0.17 increase, rounded to $0.15.

The Bernalillo County Commission approved a cost-of-living increase to the minimum wage, raising the minimum wage from its current $8.70 per hour to $8.85 per hour on January 1, 2018. The wage increase affects employees who work within the unincorporated area of Bernalillo County, outside of the city limits. The County minimum wage law was adopted in 2013, and requires the commissioners to consider cost-of-living adjustments each year, based on the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index

New York

New York Sick Leave

Officers and employees of the state, a public authority or any municipal corporation outside of a city with a population of one million or more who filed a notice of participation in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations and subsequently develop a qualifying World Trade Center condition while employed by the state, a public authority or such municipal corporation or public authority shall be granted line of duty sick leave commencing on the date that such employee was diagnosed with a qualifying World Trade Center condition regardless of whether such officer or employee was employed by his or her current employer at the time that such officer or employee participated in World Trade Center rescue, recovery or cleanup operations. The officer or employee shall be compensated at his or her regular rate of pay for those regular work hours during which the officer or employee is absent from work. Such leave shall be provided without loss of an officer or employee's accrued sick leave (Ch. 273 (A. 7901), L. 2017).

Ohio

Ohio Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in Ohio will increase on January 1, 2018, to $8.30 per hour for non-tipped employees, and to $4.15 per hour for tipped employees, the Ohio Department of Commerce announced on September 29, 2017. The minimum wage will apply to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $305,000 per year.

Currently, the minimum wage in Ohio is $8.15 per hour for non-tipped employees and $4.08 per hour for tipped employees. The 2017 Ohio minimum wage applies to employees of businesses with annual gross receipts of more than $299,000 per year.

A 2006 Constitutional Amendment (II-34a) approved by voters in the November 2006 election states that Ohio's minimum wage is to increase each January 1 based on the rate of inflation. The determination for each year is based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the 12-month period prior to September. The CPI-W index increased by 1.9 percent over the 12-month period from September 1, 2016, to August 31, 2017.

For employees at smaller companies with annual gross receipts of $305,000 or less per year after January 1, 2018, and for 14- and 15-year-olds, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. For these employees, the state wage is tied to the federal minimum wage rate.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Unemployment Insurance

The state experience factor for 2018 is 45%, and rates for Oklahoma employers will range from 0.1% to 5.5%. There is no conditional factor applicable for 2018. The new employer rate is 1.5%.

Oregon

Oregon Minimum Wage

New employment-related notice requirements are in place in Oregon.
Employers must provide written notice to each employee about the state and federal earned income tax credits. Notice must: (a) be in English and in the language the employer typically uses to communicate with employees; (b) be sent annually with the employee's federal form W-2; and (c) provide the Internet website addresses for the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Revenue where the employee can find information about the state and federal earned income tax credits.
The Bureau of Labor and Industries is to include notice to employees about the state and federal earned income tax credits in any poster that includes the state minimum wage (Ch. 333 (S. 398), L. 2017, effective October 6, 2017).

South Dakota

South Dakota Minimum Wage

The minimum wage in South Dakota will increase from $8.65 per hour to $8.85 per hour on January 1, 2018, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation.

The minimum wage is adjusted annually by any increase in the cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labor. This year's increase was 1.9%, and is rounded up to the nearest five cents. The minimum wage for tipped employees will also increase, from $4.325 to $4.425 per hour, effective January 1, 2018, which is one-half of the minimum wage rate for non-tipped employees. Wages plus tips combined must equal at least the state minimum hourly wage.

The increases apply to all South Dakota employers, with some limited exceptions. South Dakota's minimum wage provisions do not apply to certain employees being paid an opportunity wage, babysitters, or outside salespersons, or to certain seasonal workers, namely those employed by an amusement or recreational establishment, an organized camp, or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center if (1) the establishment, camp, or center does not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year; or (2) during the preceding calendar year, the average receipts of the establishment, camp, or center for any six months of the calendar year were not more than 33 1/3 percent of its average receipts for the other six months of the year.

These provisions also do not apply to apprentices, to persons learning the business or work in which employed, or to any person with a developmental disability, if the Department of Labor has issued a permit for the person's employment fixing the wage or compensation of such person

Tennessee

Tennessee Unemployment Insurance

Effective July 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017, Premium Rate Table 6 remains in effect. Employer rates range from 0.01% to 2.3% for positive-balance employers and from 5.0% to 10.0% for negative-balance employers. For the period of July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018, NAICS-based new employer rates in Tennessee are as follows: new nonconstruction employers, 2.7%; construction employers, 6.0%; manufacturing sectors 31 and 32, 2.7%; manufacturing sector 33, 2.7%; and mining and extraction, 2.7%.

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).

The City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards announced on September 29, 2017, the required increase to the Seattle minimum wage for large employers, per Seattle Municipal Code 14.19, and increases to civil penalties and fines in other labor standards, to reflect the annual rate of inflation (based on the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton Area Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the 12-month period ending in August).

The adjusted minimum wage rate that large employers who do not pay toward an employee's medical benefit plan must pay employees is $15.45 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. The minimum wage that large employers who do pay toward medical benefits must pay employees will remain at $15 per hour in 2018 (Seattle Municipal Code, 14.19.030; City of Seattle News, September 29, 2017).

The minimum wage in Tacoma will increase from $11.15 per hour to $12 per hour on January 1, 2018, as part of a scheduled increase. The City's minimum wage will be adjusted based on inflation beginning January 1, 2019.

Paid Sick Leave

In order to align City code with the State's new paid sick leave requirements, amendments to Tacoma Municipal Code (TMC) Chapter 18.10 “Paid Sick Leave” were adopted on September 26, 2017. The amended City code will take effect on January 1, 2018. At that time, the City's paid sick leave will match the more generous standards set by State law, including:
(a) workers will become eligible to use paid sick leave 90 days after hire;
(b) workers will earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked with no annual cap on accrual; (c) workers will be able to carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid sick leave to the following year;
(d) workers will be able to use all accrued hours for authorized purposes;
(e) for absences exceeding three days, employers may require documentation that shows that the leave was used for an authorized purpose;
(f) overtime-exempt employees remain covered in Tacoma
(Ordinance No. 28453 amending Tacoma's paid sick leave law.)