Minnesota’s New Wage Theft Law
If you’re a Minnesota employer the new Minnesota Wage Theft Law will impact you.
This new law, set to go into effect on July 1, 2019 (with the criminal provisions going into effect on August 1, 2019), prohibits an employer from acting with the “intent to defraud” employees. In other words, if an employer fails to pay all wages (including tips and commissions), or makes it look like more wages were paid than actually paid, then the employer could incur penalties that include both fines and potential prison time.
Provisions of the new law include:
- Rules on how frequently an employer must pay employees (at least once every 31 days) and pay out any earned commissions
- Required changes to the pay stub/pay statement (new information needs to be included)
- Addition of a Wage Notice for all employees hired after July 1, 2019
- Record keeping requirements for the Wage Notice
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has created a comprehensive website to help Minnesota employers comply with the new law. This website includes a summary of the law, an Employer’s Guide, a Q & A, and an example of the Employee Wage Notice.
For the Minnesota Department of Labor’s full coverage of the new law click here.