labor lawAdivision of labor law center

It is especially important that employers update their 2008 Indiana labor law posters. Each year brings a number of changes to the state labor laws, and this year certainly had more than its share, including a new federal minimum wage and a new I-9 form.

The updated list of 2008 Indiana labor law posters is:

• Minimum Wage
• Discrimination Notice
• Workers’ Compensation
• Unemployment Insurance
• OSHA- Health and Safety Protection
• Child Labor Law
• Workforce Development Act

Employers are required to display each of these posters in a prominent location where they can be viewed by both employees and applicants.

In addition, all employers must display updated federal labor law posters including:

• USERRA - Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
• Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law
• Federal Minimum Wage
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• Family and Medical Leave Act
• OSHA-Job Safety & Health Protection

Labor law poster serve as a handy reminder for supervisors and employees alike.

They provide important information on the minimum wage, worker safety, medical leave and child labor laws.

Under both federal and state law, these posters must be updated each time there is a change in legislation.

A change in the federal minimum wage on July 24, 2007 required that the Federal Minimum Wage posters be updated. On that date, the federal minimum wage increased for the first time in more than a decade. The rate went from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour, an increase of 70 cents. 

From state to state, there is a wide range of overtime laws and rules governing the minimum wage for employees who receive tips. That’s why each state requires a different set of labor law posters.

The minimum wage for tipped employees varies broadly from one state to the next. So do the overtime laws. These are just some of the items that are covered on each state’s respective labor law posters. Here are a few outstanding examples.

Minimum wage laws for tipped workers like servers often simply follow the federal rate of $2.13 an hour. The idea is that employers need not pay the usual minimum wage because the workers are making up the difference in tips. This is the “tip credit” for employers.

Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska, and other states follow the federal rate.

Some states offer just a little more than the federal rate:

• North Carolina, $2.43
• Wisconsin, $2.33
• Massachusetts, $2.63
• Michigan, $2.65

The minimum wage for tipped employees in Kansas is only $1.59.

At the opposite extreme, some states offer little or no tip credit. In these states, employees are paid the same minimum wage, or nearly the same minimum wage, as other workers. They include:

• Washington, none ($8.07 per hour wage starting January 1)
• Colorado, wage for tipped workers $8.07 per hour in 2008
• Hawaii, 25-cent tip credit, wage $7 per hour compared to usual $7.25

Some states just reflect federal law requiring overtime pay after 40 hours, like Michigan and Massachusetts. Nebraska mirrors the federal law, then extends it to any business with 4 or more workers. Kansas overtime doesn’t activate until after 46 hours in a week, while Minnesota’s overtime is triggered at 48 hours.

Under federal overtime law, workers get 1.5 times their normal pay for any hour over 40. Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Arizona, and Georgia are among states with no laws of their own. They’re covered by federal law, which does not guarantee minimum wage for every kind of worker, regardless of number of hours worked.

California offers the most stringent overtime laws. Workers are entitled to overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Working 7 consecutive days guarantees an employee overtime on the 7^th day. Double-time (twice the normal hourly rate) kicks in after an employee works 12 hours in a single day, or 8 hours on the 7^th consecutive workday.

Colorado workers get overtime after either a 40-hour week or a 12-hour day. In Kentucky, overtime pay activates after 40 hours and on the 7^th consecutive workday regardless of how many hours the employee works in that day.

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