labor lawAdivision of labor law center

On July 1, 2010 the Illinois minimum wage will increase by 25 cents, from $8.00 to $8.25 per hour. The law applies to employers with 4 or more workers, excluding family members. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies to employers with 3 or fewer workers. By law, any employee covered by both the federal and Illinois minimum wage laws must be paid the higher rate.

Every Illinois employer is required to display updated state labor law posters. The easy and economical way to receive free updates is to subscribe to a compliance protection plan.

Several exceptions to the law permit an Illinois employer to pay some workers less than the state minimum wage, usually an “optional rate” that is 50 cents per hour less. Youths under the age of 18 can be paid just $7.75 beginning July 1, 2010. Employees over the age of 18 can be paid $7.75 during the first 90 days of employment, as a “training wage.”

The new minimum wage for tipped employees is $4.95 per hour, an increase of 15 cents from the previous rate of $4.80 per hour. If the tipped employee does not average $8.25 per hour in tips and wages over the payroll week, the employer must pay the difference. A tipped employee under the age of 18, or in the first 90 days of employment, can be paid (more…)

New York employers need to be aware of several recent changes in the Wage and Hour regulations, including rules regarding maintenance of uniforms, meals and lodging.

This comes on the heels of news that the New York Department of Labor reached a settlement on January 27, 2010 with a Queens supermarket for not paying grocery baggers at all. Apparently, the food store required baggers to work for tips only, without any wages.  When one employee complained that this was illegal, he was terminated.

The supermarket paid more than $300,000 in back wages to three baggers and reinstated the employee, under the terms of the settlement. 

“It continues to frustrate me how employers can continue to flaunt the law and simply not pay their workers. We are glad that the employer agreed to pay workers the wages they owe them, and to reinstate the worker they fired,” Labor Commissioner Smith said.

The wage and hour changes proposed by the wage board were (more…)

Effective January 1, 2010 the tipped minimum wage for food service workers in New York increased to $4.75 per hour. Under the same regulations, on January 1, 2011 the tipped minimum wage will increase to $5.00 per hour.

Restaurant owners should be prepared for further increases in the state tipped minimum wage. The Labor Commissioner has said that these two increases are just the first step in increasing the tipped minimum wage to the same level as the minimum wage for non-tipped employees, currently $7.25.

Several states including Washington already require that tipped employees be paid the same minimum wage as other workers.

Under the new regulations, the Labor Commissioner also requires that New York employers must inform workers of the tip credit to be taken. If an employer neglects to notify employees, no credit is allowed. This requirement for employers covered under the federal minimum wage law has now been extended to employees covered by the New York state minimum wage law. For example, (more…)

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…)

The Vermont minimum wage in 2010 will remain at the current rate of $8.06 per hour. This is good news for employers in a state where the minimum wage normally increases every year.

Under state law, the Vermont minimum wage increases each year based on the cost of living. According to a press release issued by the Vermont Department of Labor, the cost of living fell by 1.5% between September 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009. Because the state law does not permit a decline in the minimum wage, it will remain at the current level until 2011.

The annual adjustment in the Vermont minimum wage is based on the Consumer Price Index or CPI. The increase each year is limited to a maximum of 5%.

“A steady minimum wage reflects our economic times, “ according to Labor Commissioner Patricia Moulton Powden. “The cost of living has fallen and the ability of employers to increase pay is limited by the recession.”

The Vermont minimum wage for tipped employees will also remain stable at $3.91 per hour for employees who earn at least $120 per month in tips for direct, personal service. However, those employees are still entitled to the minimum wage of $8.06 when tips and (more…)