labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Minimum wage changes in 2009 will require every employer in the nation to update his or her labor law posters.

On January 1, 2009 eleven states will increase the minimum wage. The majority of these states implement annual cost-of-living increases in the state minimum wage.

The biggest minimum wage increase in the nation this January is $1.00 per hour, in New Mexico. This changes the New Mexico minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.50 per hour. This is a statutory change, not a cost of living change.

The Washington state minimum wage remains the highest in 2009, increasing by 48 cents from $8.07 to $8.55 per hour. The Oregon minimum wage is second, increasing by 45 cents from $7.95 to $8.40 per hour. Third place goes to Vermont, where the minimum wage increases by 38 cents from $7.68 to $8.06 per hour.

There is a 3-way tie for fourth place, between Massachusetts, Connecticut and California. That’s due to a 35 cent increase raising the Connecticut minimum wage from $7.65 to $8.00 per hour.

Massachusetts and California have minimum wages of $8.00 per hour that do not increase in 2009. It’s worth noting that when the Massachusetts and California (more…)

A significant change to the FMLA regulations affects how employers must track FMLA leave. This is the fourth in a continuing series of articles on the new FMLA regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, which go into effect  on January 16, 2009.

Under the old regulations, an employer had to track FMLA leave using the shortest period of time that their payroll system could track. If the payroll system rounded to the quarter-hour, the employer was required to permit the employee to use 45 minutes of FMLA leave, or 2.25 hours of FMLA leave, on a particular day.

The new FMLA regulations in their entirety can be found in the 201 pages of the November Federal Register.

Under the 2009 regulations, employers may track FMLA leave using the shortest increment that the employer uses to track other forms of leave, such as (more…)

By some estimates, at least 2 million Americans will become “disabled” – without any change in their medical condition – on January 1, 2009. That’s because many more people are included in the new 2009 EEOC definition of disability than in the past.

According to the EEOC, a number of conditions that have not been considered disabilities in the past, will be disabilities under the law in 2009.

That is important news for employers, who must make reasonable accommodations for disabled workers.

In the past, under old EEOC guidelines, an employee was not considered disabled if they could complete all “major life functions” like grooming and dressing themselves, using a phone book, and using public transportation. If the employee had a condition that “substantially limited” one or more of those major life functions, he or she met the EEOC definition (more…)

On January 16, 2009 the new FMLA regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor go into effect. This is the third in a series of articles profiling the most important changes in these regulations.

As every Human Resources pro knows, the FMLA or Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 permits employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a variety of reasons, including baby bonding and the employee’s serious health condition.

One important change affects an employee’s eligibility for FMLA under section 825.110 of the regulations.

Under the FMLA regulations, an employee must work for the employer for 12 continuous months before the employee is eligible for FMLA leave, according to SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Management. However, the period of service does not have to occur immediately before the employee takes FMLA leave. However, under the 2009 regulations, employers are not required to  go back more than 7 years in most cases, (more…)

Every employer should be aware that the EEOC definition of a disabled employee changes on January 1, 2009.

A new law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008, or ADAA, expands the definition of disability in the workplace. The original ADA, passed in 1990, requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.  Initially the term “employees with disabilities” was interpreted very broadly. A number of court cases have restricted that definition over the years. The 2008 act is a return to the less restrictive definition of disability.

The new ADAA even overturns several of the EEOC’s previous regulations regarding who is and is not disabled under the law. The agency is still creating final regulations under ADAA.

Under the old EEOC regulations, an employee had to have a condition that “substantially limited” his or her ability to perform one of several “major life activities” in order to be considered. Major life activities included grooming and dressing oneself, shopping and preparing food, taking public transportation or using a phone book.

The new ADAA expands that list of “major life activities” to include (more…)