A federal court in Arizona recently rejected a defense for Arizona employers seeking to avoid liability for unpaid wages under the Arizona Wage Act. In Arrison v.

Effective January 1, 2024, California's minimum wage will increase to $16.00 per hour for all employers, regardless of size. Under California's Labor Code, by August 1 of each year, the director of finance will determine if the minimum wage must be adjusted for inflation and, if so, calculate the increase in minimum wage by the lesser of 3.5 percent.

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law HB 2862 on August 4, 2023, which amends the Illinois Day and Labor Services Act by adding new equal pay obligations and safety and training requirements for employers who hire temporary workers and for staffing agencies that place them—all of which are effective immediately.

On July 11, 2023, in Thai v. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), a three-justice panel of the California First District Appellate Court overturned a trial court's dismissal of a claim by an employee that the employer violated California law when it failed to reimburse employees for work-from-home expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the latest development in California's evolving independent contractor laws, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new ordinance that provides protections for certain independent contractors providing services in Los Angeles.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or the Board) issued a decision on June 16, 2023, returning to an Obama-era standard used to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act). While employees have rights under the NLRA, independent contractors do not.

The Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) adopted new rules for the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (PFML) regarding employer reporting requirements, child placement, and self-employment elective coverage requirements. The new rules become effective July 1, 2023.

As reported earlier this year, California's state minimum wage increased to $15.50 per hour for all employers on January 1, 2023. However, some California employers may face another minimum wage increase on July 1, 2023.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently held in Clark v.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Higgins v. Bayada Home Health Care Inc., held that it is not a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for an employer to deduct time from an exempt employee's paid time off (PTO) bank for failing to meet a productivity target.

The first phase of the District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2021 became effective May 1, 2023.

On May 3, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the FY2024 New York State Budget Agreement (the Budget), which includes legislation increasing the state's minimum wage rate over the next three years.

Specifically, the Budget amends Section 652 of the New York Labor Law (NYLL) as follows:

In Mathews v. USA Today Sports Media Group, LLC et al., plaintiff Elizabeth Mathews (Mathews) brought a collective action under the FLSA alleging that she was an employee rather than an independent contractor to the defendant. Mathews moved for conditional certification pursuant to the widely followed two-step conditional FLSA certification process adopted in Lusardi v.

California's enhanced pay data reporting requirement under SB 1162 for 100 or more employees or 100 or more workers hired through labor contractors is due May 10, 2023, for reporting year 2022. More information is found here.

As California Governor Gavin Newsom's administration seeks to finalize the 2023-24 Governor's Budget, the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee has moved to audit the persistent backlog of wage theft cases at the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.