Employment Law This Week®: Pay Data Collection, Strengthening Worker Protections, NJ’s “Wage Theft” Legislation
New Jersey Employers Face Tougher Penalties for “Wage Theft” - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New Jersey Supreme Court held that amendments to New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law and Wage Payment Law that increase employer wage-hour liability are not retroactive....more
In October 2023, we wrote an alert detailing an amendment to New York's Penal Code that added wage theft as a means of committing criminal larceny. This amendment, along with the creation of a specialized Worker Protection...more
New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed legislation (S.B. 5572) that, effective March 13, 2024, will change the salary threshold governing various exemptions under Article 6 of the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). For...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: • 23andme Is Asked to Confirm if Data Security Is Part of...more
As of January 1, 2024, a new amendment to the Rhode Island Payment of Wages Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-14-1, et seq. (the “Wage Act”) will impose criminal liability for certain wage and hour violations by Rhode Island...more
Effective January 1, 2024, the Rhode Island Payment of Wages Act, R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-14-1, et seq. (“Wage Act”) will make a “knowing[] and willful[]” wage and hour violation punishable as a criminal felony. Should an...more
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. recently announced a new prosecutorial branch tasked with investigating and prosecuting wage theft and other forms of worker harassment and exploitation throughout the borough. The...more
On February 16, 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced that his office has partnered with the New York State Department of Labor and local law enforcement to create the “Worker Protection Unit” and...more
On January 25, the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced $440,000 in fines against Dutch Maid Bakery, a wholesale bakery in Dorchester, and staffing agencies used by the bakery, for...more
In a series of significant recent decisions, Judge Pamela K. Chen of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, held that federal courts lack jurisdiction to hear claims alleging violations of New York’s wage...more
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the Minnesota attorney general’s broad power to investigate Wage Theft Act and alleged pay practice violations....more
As with every new year, California rolled out new laws affecting the workplace beginning January 1, 2022. Below is a summary of some of the most relevant changes that may affect your business. As always, please reach out to...more
The 2021 California legislative session saw the passage of a number of new labor and employment laws. Although many relate to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Legislature adopted more nonpandemic-related statutes this term as...more
In 2013 the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1386, which amended Labor Code section 98.2, giving the Labor Commissioner additional means to collect wages and penalties on behalf of workers. Labor Code section 98.2...more
California Governor Newsom signed into law yesterday a bill which makes intentional “wage theft” by employers a form of grand theft and thus a felony in the state of California. AB 1003 obviously ups the ante for employers...more
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill (S858) that amends the New York Labor Law to make it easier for employees to bring claims against their employers for alleged unpaid and/or owed wages. The legislation, titled the “No Wage...more
Massachusetts AG Maura Healey cited three C-Mart grocery stores and their owners for alleged wage theft and other labor violations affecting over 150 employees...more
Last week I declared that most cases of employee underpayments are inadvertent and that businesses, especially large employers, are working on compliance measures....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Murphy signed 153 bills into law on January 20, 2020, including six (6) that increase enforcement mechanisms for state agencies to impose certain penalties against employers who misclassify workers...more
Effective February 10, 2020, the top ten members of an out-of-state limited liability company (“LLC”) can be held personally liable for violations of New York’s wage and hour laws. The bill, signed on December 12 by Governor...more
Australia - Wage Theft Investigations. The Australia Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) 2018-2019 Annual Report, published by the government agency on October 20, 2019, found significant wage theft in the country over the past...more
On August 6, 2019, New Jersey enacted its Wage Theft Law, transforming the state’s wage and hour laws into one of the most robust in the country. As discussed below, the law substantially expands the civil and criminal...more
On August 8, 2019, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed the Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance, creating new requirements for Minneapolis employers and giving the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights enforcement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 6, 2019, Acting New Jersey Governor Sheila Oliver signed into law A-2903/S-1790, described as an Act “concerning enforcement, penalties, and procedures for law regarding failure to pay wages.” ...more
On the heels of the broadest Pay Equity law in the country, New Jersey has just passed the broadest wage theft law in the country, which is certain to lead to increased litigation. Unwary employers may not only be facing...more