A ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR ANALYSIS ON ISSUES RELATING TO WAGE-AND-HOUR DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING EMPLOYERS
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed the Wage Theft Accountability Act (WTPA) into law, which was effective immediately. The law amends New York’s criminal larceny statute to include “wage theft” in its definition of “larceny.” NY CLS Penal § 155.05(2)(f).…
Continue Reading Wage Theft Now Qualifies as Larceny Under New York Law
The California Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) was established to regulate wages, hours, and working conditions in California. Importantly, the IWC adopted “wage orders,” which establish specific rules for various industries. California has not funded the IWC since 2004, and it has not been in operation. This is likely to change.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed…
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law HB 3129, an amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act that changes how employers can advertise for position openings in Illinois, on August 11, 2023. The amendment goes into effect January 1, 2025, and requires all employers with 15 or more employees to provide pay scale and benefits information in…
In August 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona joined “the growing number of courts that have concluded” that judicial approval of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) settlements “is neither authorized or necessary.” In Evans v. Centurion Managed Care of Arizona LLC[1], the plaintiff asserted individual claims under the FLSA for unpaid overtime and failure to pay minimum wages. Following the parties’ settlement of the plaintiff’s claims on an individual basis, the parties moved for approval of the settlement, submitting to the court a redacted version of the settlement agreement and a joint motion to file portions of the settlement agreement, including the settlement amount, under seal.…
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on August 30, 2023, which proposes revisions to the regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposed rule seeks to increase the federal minimum salary threshold required for employees to qualify as exempt employees to roughly $55,000 per year.…
A federal court in Arizona recently rejected a defense for Arizona employers seeking to avoid liability for unpaid wages under the Arizona Wage Act. In Arrison v. Walmart, the district court held that there is no “employer knowledge” requirement under the AWA, rejecting Walmart’s attempt to defeat an unpaid wages class action against the…
Effective January 1, 2024, California’s minimum wage will increase to $16.00 per hour for all employers, regardless of size. Under California’s Labor Code, by August 1 of each year, the director of finance will determine if the minimum wage must be adjusted for inflation and, if so, calculate the increase in minimum wage by the…
Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law HB 2862 on August 4, 2023, which amends the Illinois Day and Labor Services Act by adding new equal pay obligations and safety and training requirements for employers who hire temporary workers and for staffing agencies that place them—all of which are effective immediately.
Read the full Update here
In the latest development in California’s evolving independent contractor laws, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new ordinance that provides protections for certain independent contractors providing services in Los Angeles. Beginning on July 1, 2023, the Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance (Ordinance) requires that any contract between a hiring entity and a freelance worker valued at $600 or more (either by itself or when combined with previous written or oral contracts between the parties in a given calendar year) be in writing and include, among other things: (1) an itemization of all services the freelance worker provides, (2) the value of the services to be provided pursuant to the contract, and (3) the date by which the entity must pay the contracted compensation or the manner by which that payment date will be determined. Under the Ordinance, a freelance worker is an individual natural person, or an entity whose interests are entirely held by and whose work is performed entirely by no more than one individual natural person. A hiring entity is defined as an entity regularly engaged in business or commercial activity, including a nonprofit business, but excluding companies that hire app-based transportation and delivery drivers to provide prearranged services.…
Continue Reading Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance for Independent Contractors in Los Angeles
On July 11, 2023, in Thai v. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), a three-justice panel of the California First District Appellate Court overturned a trial court’s dismissal of a claim by an employee that the employer violated California law when it failed to reimburse employees for work-from-home expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plaintiff and a putative class sought penalties under California Labor Code Section 2802, which requires employers to reimburse their employees for “all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee in direct consequence of the discharge of his or her duties,” including that they sought the cost of equipment purchased, when they were ordered to work from home in 2020.…
