Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray quietly signed an amendment to the Wage Theft Prevention Act which will likely take effect in mid-December 2014 – just in time for the holidays. The amended Act will significantly expand D.C. employers’ obligations to employees, including comprehensive new pay notice requirements for all existing employees and new hires going forward. The Act also increases penalties and damages for violating various D.C. wage-hour and leave laws, places higher evidentiary burdens on employers seeking to defend against such claims, and creates an expedited administrative enforcement process that employees can trigger in lieu of a civil action.
While employers in New York, California and some other states are already familiar with similarly broad and burdensome wage theft laws and pay notice requirements, D.C. employers must now act quickly to learn the ins and outs of the Act, prepare for the Act’s enactment and ensure compliance.
