As most employers are aware, Nevada has a two-tier minimum wage system, depending on whether the employer offers qualifying health benefits. Following Assembly Bill 456 (passed by the Nevada Legislature in 2019), each of those minimum wage levels will increase on July 1 of every year until 2024.

If you don’t give an employee required rest breaks or meal breaks, you must provide additional pay for each day with a missed break. But is that payment also a wage that needs to be reported on a pay stub and paid at termination, with each failure to do so carrying additional penalties? Or are the penalties not subject to those two statutory fines? Those questions—and more—were recently answered by the California Supreme Court.

In a major development for Michigan employers, a Michigan Court of Claims ruling has invalidated the Michigan Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA). It also reinstituted the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (IWOWA) and the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA), which were 2018 ballot proposals that were submitted to the Michigan Legislature. The IWOWA proposal increased the state’s minimum wage to $12/hour, including for tipped workers in the service industry. The ESTA proposal required employers of all sizes to provide up to 72 hours of paid sick leave to employees each year.

Employees in a restaurant setting often receive tips, and employers frequently take a "tip credit" toward the minimum wage they must pay. "Tip pooling" is another common practice, where all of the tips are collected and then evenly distributed among the restaurant's employees. If employers choose to implement a tip pool or tip credit, however, they must keep the following guidelines in mind to make sure their policy complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Sadly, in the past 12 months, I have been hired to investigate or assist in investigating employee embezzlement more times than in the past 15 years combined. Embezzlement is the theft or misappropriation of funds or property placed in one’s trust, belonging to one’s employer. Employee theft costs are on the rise, and they are getting more sophisticated in their methods. They justify their actions by saying they aren’t hurting anyone.

Question: We have an employee who has been out on workers' compensation for over a year now. Because he hasn’t worked for so long, is he still eligible to participate in our group benefits plan?

It isn’t any secret that businesses are having increasing difficulty hiring employees and are looking for creative ways to encourage people to apply for and accept jobs. But could a sign-on bonus create liability under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act? Yes, if you aren’t careful.