Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law requires employers to pay all wages, other than fringe benefits and wage supplements, due employees on regularly scheduled paydays designated in advance by the employer in cash, bank check, or direct deposit. As of May 4, 2017, Pennsylvania employers will have another option to pay employee wages each pay period. On November 4, 2016, Governor Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 1265 which amends the banking code to allow employers…

A California appellate court ruled this week in Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture, LLC (No. B269657, filed February 28, 2017) that employees paid on commission are entitled to separate compensation for rest breaks.  In a decision that frustrates employers that view the employment relationship through the lens of contract law, the Vaquero Court held that Stoneledge’s commission plan that paid sales associates a percentage of sales or a guaranteed draw in excess of minimum wage against…

Thanksgiving comes two days early for employers across the country who anticipated the new Department of Labor (“DOL”) overtime Final Rule creating significant pre-holiday expenses.  For those employers, who have been living in denial or under a rock for the last six months, the DOL Final Rule increased the minimum salary level for exempt employees from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $921 per week ($47,892 annually).  Although California exempt employees expected a slightly smaller…

California employers hoped for significant changes following Governor Brown’s budget proposal that called for the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) to have more oversight of claims made under the Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA).   The budget proposal noted that the departments tasked with investigation and enforcement of the Labor Code has never “had the staffing and resources to effectively review notices, or choose cases for further investigation.”  This is especially true given…

WINDOW CLOSES TODAY! Employers who wish to take advantage of the safe harbor provision of California’s new piece rate legislation, must provide notice to the Director of Industrial Relations by July 28, 2016.  The deadline for employers to provide notice was temporarily suspended while a Fresno Superior Court considered a petition by Nisei Farmers League requesting a preliminary injunction to prevent the implementation of the safe harbor provisions of Labor Code section 226.2 created by…