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THE STATE OF MINIMUM WAGE CHANGES IN 2010
March 10th, 2010There is only one scheduled state minimum wage increase this year. This is a dramatic contrast to 2009 when more than 20 states increased their minimum wage rates.
The Illinois minimum wage will increase to $8.25 on July 1 in the final step of a three-step annual increase that began in 2008.
The Nevada minimum wage is due for an annual adjustment on July 1. However, it is unlikely that it will increase since none of the 9 states with a January 1 annual adjustment for inflation changed their rate except Colorado, which decreased its rate. (See more details in my last blog, “Times Have Changed for State Minimum Wages”.)
This is also the first year since 2007 that there will not be a federal minimum wage increase in July. Last year’s increase on July 24, 2009, to $7.25 per hour was the final step in a three-step increase.
Several states are considering a wide range of minimum wage proposals this year, including the following:
- A bill was introduced in the Washington state legislature that would allow reduction of the state minimum wage. (The Washington state minimum wage is currently the highest in the nation at $8.55 per hour.)
- A proposed bill in the Missouri legislature would cut the state minimum wage for teen workers (those below age 20).
- In Arizona a bill was introduced to decrease the youth wage (for those under 22).
- In Maine a bill was introduced to adjust the state minimum wage annually for inflation.
- A bill was introduced in the Hawaii legislature to increase the minimum wage.
TIMES HAVE CHANGED FOR STATE MINIMUM WAGES
March 8th, 2010State minimum wage increases were becoming law at a rapid rate in recent years, especially before July 2007 when the first federal minimum wage increase in 10 years went into effect.
The momentum accelerated in November 2006 when minimum wage increase initiatives in six states made it to the ballot and all six of them passed. All of these ballot measures also included an automatic annual adjustment for inflation.
In the meantime four additional states had passed annual adjustments to the minimum wage. Currently there are 10 states with annual inflation adjustments:
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All of these adjustments occur on January 1 except for Nevada, which happens on July 1.
For several years all of the states with the annual adjustment for inflation increased their minimum wages. But it all began to change as the economy slowed down.
This became obvious as 2009 drew to a close and the nine states whose minimum wage is adjusted for inflation every January 1 determined that the annual rate of inflation had decreased– something that had seemed unthinkable a few years earlier.
Since Colorado is the only state in this group whose minimum wage law allows wage declines, it now has the distinction of being the first state to decrease its minimum wage since the federal minimum wage was adopted in 1938.
The other states that adjust their minimum wage every January 1 would have been in the same situation if their laws allowed it. Instead the end result was that not one state with an automatic inflation adjustment clause increased its minimum wage for 2010 in January.
Besides Colorado, only two of these states—Arizona and Oregon—had mandatory changes in their minimum wage posters for 2010, and these were text changes only rather than the wage rates themselves.
If you would like more information about your state minimum wage, go to www.postercompliance.com/labor-law-posters/minimum-wage-poster/ or call Poster Compliance Center at 1-800-322-3636.
NEW CALIFORNIA OSHA POSTER IS OUT BUT PREVIOUS VERSION STILL OK
March 4th, 2010You may have heard that a new California OSHA poster (Occupational Safety and Health ) has been issued by Cal/OSHA.
Although Cal/ OSHA’s “Safety and Health Protection on the Job” is a required state labor law poster, the new November 2009 revision is not a required change. In fact the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) website states that the “previous edition (February 2006) may still be used”.
Issuing a revised poster while still accepting the previous version as valid is not a common occurrence, but it has happened before. For example, December 2006 is the latest version of the federal OSHA poster but the U.S. Department of Labor website states “previous versions acceptable”.
The Cal/ OSHA safety poster explains the basic requirements and procedures for compliance with the state’s job safety and health laws and regulations. The new version of the state OSHA poster has been updated with some minor changes in the contact information (which includes over 20 office contacts).
If you need to update your California or federal poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
ARIZONA UPDATES MINIMUM WAGE AND DISCRIMINATION LABOR LAW POSTERS
February 9th, 2010Arizona is one of 10 states that adjust the minimum wage annually based on inflation. Arizona’s minimum wage law went into effect in 2006 when the state’s voters enacted Proposition 202, known as the “Raise the Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act”.
The voter initiative established an Arizona minimum wage and provided for an annual increase based on the increase in the cost of living based on the federal Consumer Price Index (CPI-U).
Although the CPI-U index dropped 1.5 percent during the 12-month period ending last August, the Minimum Wage Act does not provide for a decrease in the Arizona minimum wage. The Industrial Commission of Arizona determined that the state minimum wage would stay at $7.25 per hour through 2010.
Until this year the Arizona minimum wage had increased every year since the initiative passed: to $6.90 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008, and to $7.25 per hour on Jan. 1, 2009.
The Industrial Commission has updated the Arizona minimum wage poster with this new information for 2010, and the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division has updated the Discrimination in Employment poster to include genetic information as a new category for which discrimination is prohibited.
If you need to update your Arizona poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
RHODE ISLAND UPDATES UNEMPLOYMENT/ TEMPORARY DISABILITY POSTER
February 5th, 2010If you are out of work in Rhode Island and need to file a claim for unemployment, you must register for work with the Department of Labor & Training to be eligible for benefits. This information has been clarified on the Rhode Island Employment Security Act and Temporary Disability Insurance Act poster. The previous unemployment poster said only that employment and training services were available.
Other requirements for eligibility include: must be unemployed through no fault of your own, must have earned minimum qualifying wages, and must be physically able to work, available for work and actively seeking work.
The RI Department of Labor & Training offers many options and resources to help unemployed workers as well as those on disability.
Unemployment claims can be filed over the phone or online. Once the claim has been approved, Rhode Island offers the Teleserve Automated Payment System which allows you to request your weekly unemployment insurance benefit payments with a touch tone phone or online. Payments must be requested every week.
On the DLT website you can access the Guide to Filing a UI Claim that will help you prepare everything you need to file a claim. Categories cover information about yourself and your dependents, employment history, related financial information, education and processing preferences.
In addition to the unemployment changes on the poster, application forms for temporary disability insurance benefits can now be obtained from local netWORKri Career Centers. The previous poster listed options to file online or call to request an application.
If you need to update your Rhode Island poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
OREGON ADDS MILITARY FAMILY LEAVE AND UPDATES MINIMUM WAGE POSTER
February 3rd, 2010Several states have recently added or expanded military family leave laws, following in the footsteps of Congress which added a military family leave provision to the federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in 2008. The federal FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees.
The Oregon Military Family Leave Act (House Bill 2744) was passed by the 2009 Legislature, expanding the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA). Any employer already covered by the Oregon Family Leave Act, generally those with 25 or more employees in the state, is also covered by the Oregon Military Family Leave Act.
The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) has added information about the new Oregon Military Family Leave Act to its Oregon Family Leave Act Poster.
Under HB 2744 covered employers must provide up to 14 days of leave to employees who are spouses or domestic partners of service members that are on active duty. According to Oregon BOLI, it is an unlawful employment practice for employers to fail to grant this leave or discriminate against a spouse/domestic partner for requesting or taking the leave provided under the law.
An employee who takes military family leave is entitled to be restored to a position of employment and to the continuation of benefits, just like an employee taking OFLA-protected leave.
Oregon has also updated its Minimum Wage poster with an explanation that the state’s minimum wage will remain $8.40 in 2010. This is the first year the minimum wage has not increased since Ballot Measure 25 was passed by Oregon voters in 2002.
Although Oregon is one of 10 states that adjusts the minimum wage annually based on inflation, the minimum wage will not change this year because the state Consumer Price Index declined by 1.48%. The law ties Oregon’s minimum wage to increases in the CPI and gives no option for decreasing it when the CPI declines.
If you need to update your Oregon poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
COLORADO LOWERS MINIMUM WAGE AND UPDATES LABOR LAW POSTERS
January 29th, 2010Colorado has the distinction of being the first state to decrease its minimum wage since the federal minimum wage was adopted in 1938.
It is one of 10 states that adjusts the minimum wage annually based on inflation. However, Colorado is the only one of these states that allows wage declines.
According to the Colorado Constitution, the Colorado minimum wage is adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index used for Colorado. This index decreased by 0.6 percent from the first half of 2008 to the first half of 2009.
As of Jan. 1, Colorado’s wage fell 4 cents, from $7.28 to $7.24 per hour, but the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour takes precedence since it is higher.
The other states that adjust every January 1 – but whose minimum wage rates remain the same this year since they cannot decrease – include Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. (Nevada has an annual adjustment every July 1.)
The annual adjustment for Colorado, and five of the other 10 states with annual adjustments, went into effect with the passage of a state ballot measure in November 2006.
Colorado’s minimum wage rate has steadily increased since then – until this year: to $6.85 per hour on Jan. 1, 2007; to $7.02 per hour on Jan. 1, 2008 and to $7.28 per hour on Jan. 1, 2009.
Colorado has issued a revised minimum wage poster (Minimum Wage Order Number 26) as well as updating its Unemployment Insurance poster and adding a new Notice of Paydays poster.
If you need to update your Colorado poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
NORTH CAROLINA ADDS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT LAWS AND LABOR LAW POSTER UPDATE
January 22nd, 2010Youth employment has been getting lots of attention in North Carolina.
Two bills affecting youth employment were passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009, and new youth employment information has been added to the North Carolina Labor Law Poster.
House Bill 23, which went into effect Dec. 1, 2009, increases civil penalties for child labor violations. The previous penalty was up to $250 per violation. The new penalty under this law increases the maximum for first violations to $500 and adds penalties for subsequent violations of up to $1000.
The other youth employment law passed in 2009 requires that the North Carolina Department of Labor give a report to the General Assembly on youth employment enforcement activities, due by Feb. 1 each year.
The North Carolina Department of Labor recently expanded the youth employment information in the Wage and Hour section of the North Carolina Workplace Laws Poster. The previous poster simply stated that youths are not permitted to work in hazardous, detrimental or prohibited jobs. The latest version of the poster explains that state and federal labor laws protect youth workers and gives several examples of dangerous jobs that are prohibited.
The complete list of nine occupations declared to be detrimental to the health and well being of youths under 18 years of age can be found in the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act.
These include welding; processes using powdered quartz or other silicates; work involving exposure to lead; work involving exposure to benzene; certain occupations in canneries, seafood or poultry processing establishments; work which has a risk of falling 10 feet or more; work as an electrician or helper; certain work in confined spaces; and certain occupations which require the use of a respirator.
If you need to update your North Carolina poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
ALASKA CHANGES UNEMPLOYMENT LAW AND UPDATES LABOR LAW POSTER
January 21st, 2010Unemployment insurance benefits not only provide economic assistance to workers but also a stabilizing influence on local economies. In the state of Alaska, unemployment insurance is particularly important since much of the state’s employment is seasonal and because of Alaska’s size and remoteness, according to the Alaska Division of Employment Security.
Unemployment insurance premiums in Alaska are paid by both employers and employees, although employers pay a much higher percentage. The percentage paid by employers has recently been reduced from 80% to 73% and that paid by employees has increased from 20% to 27%.
This change is reflected in a new Alaska unemployment insurance poster issued by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Alaska provides or administers several different types of unemployment benefits, including Regular UI, Interstate Claim for Benefits, Extended Benefits, Unemployment Compensation for Federal Civilian Employees, Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Military Personnel and Disaster Unemployment Assistance.
If you need to update your Alaska poster or you would like to order a 1-Year Compliance Protection Plan for worry-free compliance, go to the Poster Compliance Center website at www.postercompliance.com or call 1-800-322-3636.
WILL THE NEW YORK MINIMUM WAGE POSTER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NEW OVERTIME LAW?
November 19th, 2009Q: Is there an upcoming change to the New York labor law poster because of the new overtime law?
A: There is a new law for New York called Notice of Pay Rate and Payday for New Hires. However, at this time there will be no changes to the New York minimum wage poster, according to the New York State Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division.
