Know the New Minimum Wage and Employment Laws for 2018
It’s important to stay apprised of the most recent changes in relevant laws for 2018. Total Landscape Care recently published an article with the most pertinent changes to the equipment industry that could have an impact on your dealership.
The two areas of most importance to the industry are changes related to the labor and wage laws. Monitoring these changes could be a big deal in how you adjust your business strategy and goals for 2018.
Minimum Wage
One of the more significant laws pertaining to the construction industry is in relation to wage increase. A variety of states and cities have upped their minimum wages. Some changes are more minute, however others have significantly increased it. Below is a portion of the cities and states with their new minimum wages, however if you’d like a full list, take a look at these charts from the National Employment Law Project’s recent report.
- Alaska: $9.84 an hour
- Albuquerque, New Mexico: $8.95 an hour
- Arizona: $10.50 an hour
- Bernalillo County, New Mexico: $8.85 an hour
- California: $11 an hour for businesses with 26 or more employees; $10.50 an hour for companies with 25 or fewer employees
- Colorado: $10.20 an hour
- Cupertino, California: $13.50 an hour
- El Cerrito, California: $13.60 an hour
- Flagstaff, Arizona: $11 an hour
- Florida: $8.25 an hour
- Hawaii: $10.10 an hour
- Los Altos, California: $13.50 an hour
- Maine: $10 an hour
- Michigan: $9.25 an hour
- Milpitas, California: $12 an hour
- Minneapolis, Minnesota: $10 an hour for companies with more than 100 employees
- Minnesota: $9.65 an hour for businesses with an annual gross revenue of $500,000; $7.87 an hour for those with an annual gross revenue of less than $500,000
- Missouri: $7.85 an hour
- Montana: $8.30 an hour
- Mountain View, California: $15 an hour
- New Jersey: $8.60 an hour
- New York: $13 an hour for standard New York City businesses with 11 for more employees; $12 an hour for standard New York City businesses with 10 or fewer employees; $11 an hour for standard workers in Long Island and Westchester; $10.40 for standard workers in the rest of New York state
- Oakland, California: $13.23 an hour
- Ohio: $8.30 an hour
- Palo Alto, California: $13.50 an hour
- Rhode Island: $10.10 an hour
- Richmond, California: $13.41 an hour
- San Jose, California: $13.50 an hour
- San Mateo, California: $13.50 an hour for standard businesses; $12 an hour for nonprofits
- Santa Clara, California: $13 an hour
- SeaTac, Washington: $15.64 an hour for hospitality and transportation employees
- Seattle, Washington: $15.45 an hour or businesses with 501 or more employees that don’t offer medical benefits; $15 an hour for businesses with 501 or more employees that do offer medical benefits; $14 an hour for businesses with 500 or fewer employees that don’t offer medical benefits; $11.50 an hour for businesses with 500 or fewer employees that do offer medical benefits
- South Dakota: $8.85 an hour
- Sunnyvale, California: $15 an hour
- Tacoma, Washington: $12 an hour
- Vermont: $10.50 an hour
- Washington state: $11.50 an hour
Drug Use
Another matter gaining importance in the legal arena related to businesses is that of drug testing. As states begin to legalize marijuana, they are looking to pass legislation related to drug testing, usage of marijuana, and employment practices.
For example, in Maine there is a bill that’s been created to help regulate the recreational use of marijuana. This bill says that employers aren’t obligated to allow or accomodate the use, possession, transportation, sale or cultivation of marijuana in the workplace. Employers will also be allowed to limit drug use and discipline employees who attempt to work under the influence.
In contrast to this bill, Ohio has a bill pending that protects the rights of employees who fail drug tests due to using marijuana in “pursuant to a prescription issued by a licensed health profession.”
Overtime Rules
Of course another hot topic is that of overtime. As you may already know, the proposed overtime rule that would have allowed 4 million employees to be eligible for overtime was blocked and then struck down last year.
The Labor Department originally appealed the ruling, however changed course and asked that the ruling be upheld. It then wanted clarification that it can use a salary threshold in overtime pay regulations. This was agreed upon, but eligibility for overtime must be a combination of a worker’s duties and wages.
However, there are two bills in Congress aiming to restore key elements of the original Overtime Pay Act. The amendments would also require the Secretary of Labor to make regulations that set the minimum salary amount at a weekly rate equal to the 40th percentile of earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest Census Region as well as update the minimum salary amount every three years.
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We’ll continue to monitor progress with the bills mentioned above to keep you informed of the latest developments. It’s also a good idea to follow some publications that may have updates regarding this kind of information. We recommend news outlets like:
