labor lawAdivision of labor law center

On January 1, 2009 the Ohio minimum wage increases by 30 cents from $7.00 to $7.30 per hour.  

On that same date, the Ohio minimum wage for tipped employees increases by 15 cents, from $3.50 to $3.65 per hour, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce. Any tipped Ohio employee who does not average $3.65 per hour in tips must be paid the difference in wages by the employer.

Under Ohio law, smaller companies can pay employers less. Companies with revenue less than $267,000 in 2009 can pay just $6.55 under the Ohio minimum wage law. However, when the federal minimum wage increases on July 24, 2009, they must pay at least $7.25 per hour. Youths who are 14 and 15 years of age can also be paid these reduced wages.

A constitutional amendment passed by Ohio voters (more…)

On January 1, 2008, Ohio raised its state minimum wage by 15 cents from $6.85 to $7.00 per hour. Tipped workers will receive a minimum wage of $3.50 per hour.

Businesses with annual gross earnings of less than $255,000, however, are still covered by the federal minimum wage of $5.85, rather than the state wage of $7.00. No matter the age of the employee, even as young as 14 or 15, these employers must at least pay their workers the federal minimum.

On July 24, 2008, the federal minimum wage is slated to increase to $6.55, so companies earning less than $255,000 will then be required employees the new federal rate.

The Ohio Department of Commerce requires all businesses that gross over $150,000 annually to pay overtime. Overtime is paid at a rate of 1.5 times the normal rate for any time over 40 hours in one week. Companies with earnings less than $150,000 are exempt from Ohio’s state overtime law. Employees in these businesses, however, may be eligible for overtime under federal statute.

Ohio has seen several significant changes in its labor laws over the past two years. The Ohio smoking ban was enacted, prohibiting smoking in public places and nearly all workplaces. Employers, according to this ban, must display non-smoking signs in a prominent position at every entrance.

Several types of employees are exempt from Ohio’s state minimum wage law. Babysitters or live-in companions are exempt, but housekeepers aren’t. Employees of a non-profit camp or recreational area for minors are exempt from Ohio state minimum wage law, as are employees working for a charity. Persons paid on commission, such as outside salespeople, are also exempt.

According to federal law, any worker who puts in more than 40 hours in any one week is entitled to overtime, which is paid at 1.5 times the standard hourly rate. Like Ohio, several states have enacted their own overtime laws. These laws vary widely from state-to-state and across the country.

January 1, 2008 saw the first of a series of changes in minimum wage laws across the country. Fourteen states, including Arizona, California, Massachusetts and Vermont raised their state minimum wages on that day.

Later in the year, Illinois will add 25 cents to its minimum of $7.50 to $7.75 per hour. Michigan will also increase its minimum by 25 cents resulting in a new rate of $7.40 per hour. These changes will go into effect on July 1, 2008, along with changes in three other states.

Pennsylvania workers will enjoy a 90 cent per hour raise to their minimum wage rate, giving them a new minimum of $7.15 per hour.

On July 24, 2008, the federal minimum will go from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour.

This increase is the second step of a three-step system set up by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007. This Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 24, 2006.

Many states have their own minimum wage laws, and several tie the increases to their minimum rates to the increase in the federal minimum wage. On July 24, 2008, therefore, North Carolina, North Dakota and Indiana, among others will enact a rise in their minimum wage rates, too.

The District of Columbia’s minimum wage is required by law to be at least $1.00 more than the federal rate. On July 24, 2008, D.C.’s rate will therefore rise to $7.55 per hour.

Whenever a change occurs in any labor law, employers must update their labor law posters or face the possibility of a fine. Companies are required to display these posters in prominent spots in the employee work area, and to update for both state and federal law changes. Businesses seeking up to date information can visit www.laborlawcenter.com.

Employers in Ohio will face a minimum wage increase on January 1, 2008 when the state rate increases 15 cents from $6.85 per hour to $7.00 per hour. The rate for tipped employees in 2008 is $3.50 per hour.

Ohio employers who gross less than $255,000 per year continue to be covered under the federal, rather than the state, minimum wage statute. They must pay at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour to all employees, including those as young as 14 or 15.

When the federal minimum wage increases on July 24, 2008 employers who gross less than $255,000 per year will be required to pay all workers at least $6.55 per hour. 

According the Ohio Department of Commerce, any Ohio employer who grosses more than $150,000 per year is required to pay overtime of 1.5 times the employees usual rate after 40 hours. Employers with annual revenue less than $150,000 per year are exempt from the Ohio overtime law, although they may be required to pay overtime under federal law.

The past two years saw some significant changes to the labor law scene in Ohio. The Ohio smoking ban went into effect, making it illegal to smoke in public places and in virtually every place of employment. The law also requires employers to prominently post non-smoking signs at all entrances.

The state minimum wage law exempt a number of employees from the overtime provision, including babysitters or live-in companions, but not housekeepers. Outside salespeople paid on commission, those working for a charity or employees of a non-profit camp or recreational area for minors are also exempt. The law also exempts family members, provided they are employed by a family-owned and operated business, and related to the owner.

There is a very wide variation in state overtime laws throughout the nation.

When an employee works more than 40 hours a week, federal law says that worker is entitled to 1.5 times the usual hourly rate, or “overtime”. Many states have also enacted overtime laws. In Delaware, Idaho and others that don’t have a state overtime law, most employees are covered by the federal law. If federal law doesn’t apply in these states, many workers are not entitled to overtime.

Among the states that have enacted statues for overtime, California seems to offer the worker the greatest benefit. Any single day where an employee works more than 8 hours qualifies for overtime, as does over 40 hours per week. The seventh consecutive day worked entitles the employee overtime, and after 8 hours on those days, double time–twice the hourly rate–is paid.

Connecticut also provides overtime for workers on the seventh day in a row, but only for workers in hotels and restaurants. Kentucky also pays overtime on day seven, regardless of the number of hours worked up till then.

Many of the states across the country, such as Illinois, Nebraska and Michigan merely follow the federal law’s lead and require overtime pay for more than 40 hours per week.

State laws regarding overtime can be quite different. State laws for employees who also receive tips, are just as different.

Federal law ranks minimum wage for tipped employees at $2.13 per hour. As with the overtime laws, many states simply mirror the federal law and pay $2.13 as well.

A few states pay slighter higher, like Wisconsin at $2.33 per hour and Michigan at $2.65 per hour. At the low end of the range is Kansas with $1.59 per hour.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are those states that don’t allow much, if any, credit for a worker’s tips. Companies in Hawaii are allowed to pay tipped workers $7.00 per hour instead of $7.25, the state minimum. Washington allows employers no tips at all and requires employers to pay tipped and non-tipped workers the state minimum wage, which on January 1, 2008 will be $8.07 per hour.

An aerospace defense contractor based in Broomfield, Colorado was ordered to pay almost $1 million in back with wages">wages to 904 employees in four states plus the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Department of Labor charges that Ball Aerospace and Technologies, Inc. failed to pay $976,327 in overtime to employees in Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Georgia and Washington D.C.

According to sources, an investigation showed that once senior technicians reached the maximum hourly rate, they were arbitrarily and unlawfully changed to salaried-exempt status. The change in pay rate did not include a significant increase in responsibilities. Under federal law, in order to be exempt from overtime pay, employees must have decision-making powers, significant administrative duties or they must supervise three or more people. None of those conditions were met for the 111 technicians in question, so they are due $383, 235 in unpaid overtime.

In addition, all employees were routinely required to work through their lunch periods without any pay. Even if they were not able to take a lunch break, an hour was deducted from their time cards every work day. This violation resulted in payments of $593,092 to 793 employees.

Ball agreed to keep more accurate payroll records in the future, in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA, and to pay all required wages to employees in the future.

In late July, the U.S. Department of Labor forced Desert Plastering, Inc., a Las Vegas Nevada firm, to pay nearly $1.2 million in back pay to 1060 employees. The feds found that Desert Plastering had not paid required overtime to lathers, finishers, plasterers and estimators who worked up to 58 hours per week.

In early July, the U.S. Department of Labor forced 107 subcontractors of KBR, Inc. of Virginia to pay some $1.5 million in back wages and benefits for up to 2,600 workers who participated in the Hurricane Katrina recovery project. The construction workers were involved in repairs to the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport Mississippi or the Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The U.S. Department of Labor is still searching for some of the workers involved in that case. Anyone who believes that they are owed back wages for these projects can contact the nearest U.S. Department of Labor office. The average payment per worker in that case was $616.

Earlier this year, under a voluntary agreement to prevent a federal suit, Wal-Mart, Inc. agreed to pay $33 million in unpaid overtime wages to 86,680 employees throughout the nation. An internal audit revealed that the company had incorrectly classified some employees as “salary-exempt” when in fact they were entitled to overtime pay. In other cases, the company admitted that it had based overtime pay on the employee’s base hourly rate, not including incentives and bonuses in the employee’s average rate as required by law.

The Fair Labor Standard Act requires that most U.S. employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage, which is currently $5.85 per hour. The FLSA also mandates that employees must be paid 1.5 times their usual hourly rate for each hour over 40 in a single work week.

Many employers mistakenly believe that any worker paid by salary is exempt from overtime. The FLSA does provide a number of exemptions to the overtime law for bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales jobs. In general, employees must meet job duty and salary tests, to be exempt from overtime.

The U. S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division collected more than $171 in back wages for some 246,000 employees in 2006. Thos wages were a result of 31,987 “compliance actions” in 2006.

A special US Dept. of Labor taskforce on minimum wage violations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina has had unexpected results in Ohio.

The firm violated the Ohio overtime and federal minimum wage laws, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which conducted the investigation. The probe began after a tip from an employee led to the discovery that the firm was violating the minimum wage law in 16 states. It was also violating the FLSA, or federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

A Houston, Texas tree-trimming firm involved in the Hurricane Katrina cleanup failed to pay the minimum wage to its workers, and has been ordered to pay back-wages to more than 2,500 employees.

The violation of the federal and Ohio overtime law will cost the company more than $1.8 million. That’s the amount of back wages it has been ordered to pay, following the investigation by the Department of Labor.

The company must pay back wages to its Ohio employees, plus workers from Maryland, Virginia, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The firm cleans up around power lines and after natural disasters, such as hurricanes.

Employees, according to FLSA rules, must be paid the minimum wage of $5.15 per hour for the first 40 hours, then time-and-a-half for overtime after that. Employers must also keep time and payroll records that are accurate.

The investigation in this case began when Labor Department officials received a tip from an employee. They discovered the company had violated the minimum wage law in 16 states, as well as the Fair Labor Standards Act.

 “We are pleased,” said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao, “that we were able to help these workers get the back pay they deserve.” She said the department would continue its push “to ensure that employers are paying workers properly.”

The investigation resulting in the charges against ABC Professional Tree Services covered the period from August of 2004 to August of 2006.