The Minnesota legislature has passed, and Governor Walz has signed, new legislation that amends various employment law statutes, includes new record-keeping requirements for employers, and provides new wage-theft protections for employees.
Record Keeping Requirements
Effective July 1, 2019, Minnesota employers must provide new employees with a Wage Statement at the commencement of their employment. The statement shall include notice of the rate(s) of pay and the basis thereof, allowances for meals/lodging, an explanation of PTO, a statement regarding employment status, deductions, the number of days in a pay period, and the legal name of the employer, its address and phone number.
For existing employees, the law also requires employers to include additional information in the earning statements for each pay period, including the rate(s) of pay and the basis thereof, allowances for meals/lodging, and the physical address and phone number for the employer.
Employers must also maintain a list of all personnel policies provided to the employee, including the date of delivery/receipt and a description of the policies themselves.
All records must be readily available to the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry for inspection.
Wage Theft Protections
Effective August 1, 2019, the law provides civil and criminal penalties for employers who intentionally defraud their employees by (1) failing to pay an employee their required wages, salaries, gratuities, earnings, or commissions, (2) directly or indirectly requiring an employee to provide a receipt for wages in a greater amount than what was actually paid, (3) demanding a rebate or refund of wages, or (4) in any way making it appear that more wages were paid than were actually paid.
In addition, the penalty “cap” for failure to timely pay wages has been lifted.
Retaliation
Finally, the law includes an anti-retaliation provision for any employee who asserts their rights under the new law.
NOTE: This post is merely a brief synopsis of the new law. For more information, contact attorney Anne G. Brown.