Massachusetts’ highest court recently eased a burden on businesses by limiting their exposure to claims they are joint employers under state law. The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decided the test governing the joint employer inquiry is the multifactor standard of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and not the “ABC” test of the state’s independent contractor law. In doing so, the SJC (1) confirmed the more employer-friendly FLSA standard applies in Massachusetts and (2) provided important guidance to businesses in structuring their relationships with other firms, contractors, and vendors.

This 2022 State Minimum Wage Increases Map shows the states that are increasing their minimum wages, including the new rates and amounts of the increases. We also provide a listing of the states increasing their minimum wages and the effective dates of the changes below the map.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation to expand the state’s paid family leave (PFL) law to cover siblings. Effective January 2023, the amendment will add care for a sibling with a serious health condition as a basis for the paid leave. Read on to understand how the change will affect your business.

On January 1, 2021, Arizona’s minimum wage increased to $12.15 per hour, establishing a rank of seventh highest among the 50 states (tied with Maine). At the time of this writing, seven states either had no minimum wage laws or had established a minimum wage below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Many other states across the country enacted laws that implement periodic increases either based on the passage of time or the cost of living. With changes coming across the country in January 2022, Arizona will hold steady in seventh place among the states.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is resurrecting the so-called 80/20 rule under which an employer can take a tip credit on work that directly supports tip-producing work only if it’s less than 20 percent of all hours worked during the workweek. The new standard is effective December 28, 2021.

I recently received similar questions from two different clients who provide a generous amount of paid time off (PTO) that employees may use for any purpose. One client wanted to require employees to use at least five days of leave consecutively each year. The other told me it had eliminated the requirement but was now thinking about reinstating it. Their questions led to interesting discussions about the purposes behind "forced vacation" rules, and I thought it might be helpful to share what I learned with our readers.

Employers that take advantage of the "tip credit" will have to monitor and document their tipped employees' tasks much more closely than they have in the past under a new rule from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).