Just six months after Minnesota’s state-wide wage theft law went into effect, Minneapolis employers need to be prepared for a few additional requirements in the local version. The Minneapolis Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance will take effect starting on January 1, 2020. It applies to all employers located in the city, plus those who have employees working at least 80 hours per year in the city.
The city ordinance requires an employer to pay all wages—including salary, gratuities, earnings, and commissions—“on a regularly scheduled payday” identified to the employee in a pre-hire notice. That pre-hire notice must also include information such as the start date of employment, overtime policy, and a statement that the sharing of gratuities is voluntary (if applicable to the position). Any change to the information in that notice requires a new written notice signed by the employee before the changes go into effect. That notice must be both conspicuously posted at any workplace in Minneapolis, and also personally provided to new employees when they start work.
An important difference between the statewide law and the city ordinance is that the required pre-hire notice also must include extensive information about the Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance. This includes the method by which the employee accrues sick time, the date when the employee is entitled to use sick time, and the date when the employer’s year ends for the purpose of sick time accrual.
Another difference between the Minneapolis ordinance and the state law: if any of the information required in the pre-hire notice has not already been given to any current employees, Minneapolis employers must give that notice to those employees as of January 1, 2020.
Minneapolis employers should familiarize themselves with the entire ordinance, which can be read here.
Takeaway: Minneapolis employers must prepare to comply with the city’s wage theft ordinance, which has additional requirements on top of the statewide law enacted earlier this year.
