labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The good news for employers is that most state minimum wages are holding steady in 2010. In January 2009, more than a dozen states increased their minimum wages. In 2010, only a few minimum wage changes are in effect.

The Kansas minimum wage increased from $2.65 to $7.25 on January 1, 2010. This is the first time in more than two decades that the Kansas minimum wage has increased. The change comes after more than a decade of efforts by Kansas Democrats. On December 31, 2009, Kansas had the lowest minimum wage of any state. Effective today, X states have lower minimum wages.

To be fair to Kansas, five states have no minimum wage whatsoever. They are Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and South Carolina.

In an unprecedented step, the Colorado minimum wage actually decreased by 4 cents from $7.28 per hour to $7.24 per hour today. Most employees in the state are still covered by the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

About a dozen states annually increase the minimum wage based on the cost of living. However, in most areas the cost of living has shown a decrease of 1% to 2%. While many state statutes prevent the minimum wage from being reduced, they have not been increased.

States that have skipped the annual increase in minimum wage this year include Ohio, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Nevada, Montana, Missouri and Arizona.

In Florida, by statute the state minimum wage cannot be (more…)

 Massachusetts recently increased the penalties for employers who misclassify employees as independent contractors.

Many states are imposing stricter penalties for employers who illegally avoid paying unemployment insurance and workers’ comp by misclassifying workers as independent contractors.

In Somers v. Converged Access, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the independent contractor law is a strict liability  statute. This means that the employer’s intent in misclassifying a worker is irrelevant. Therefore, the worker was entitled to compensation for wages, overtime and benefits that he would have received, if he had been correctly classified as an employee. In addition, the employee was permitted to keep the $65 per hour that the company paid him as an independent contractor – an amount far in excess of an employee’s wage in the same job.

The Massachusetts company was required to pay the employee for benefits including vacation and holiday pay. In addition, the company was ordered to pay the employee overtime at a rate of $97.50 per hour – 1.5 times the worker’s $65-per-hour wage.  

The Massachusetts definition of independent contractor is even more strict than federal independent contractor regulations. A worker is an employee unless he or she is: (more…)

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…)