Employment Law This Week®: Pay Data Collection, Strengthening Worker Protections, NJ’s “Wage Theft” Legislation
New Jersey Employers Face Tougher Penalties for “Wage Theft” - Employment Law This Week® - Trending News
Following the introduction of a similar reform in Australia in January, New Zealand has now criminalized intentional wage theft by employers. As “intentional wage theft” doesn’t come with a specific legal definition under the...more
Three months into the new legislative year, with all but a handful of state legislatures currently in session, several employment law trends for 2025 have emerged. Some of the more significant trends reflect the country’s...more
California lawmakers introduced numerous bills early in the 2025 legislative session that could affect California employment law in significant ways. Although it is too soon to predict which bills, if any, will advance, the...more
Developers, owners, and contractors would all be wise to take note of Senate Bill 426, currently under consideration in the Oregon legislature....more
On March 17, 2025, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously held in Musker v. Suuchi that commissions are included in the definition of “wages” under New Jersey’s Wage Payment Law (“WPL”). Wages under the WPL are defined as...more
Wage and hour claims—especially under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and class action lawsuits—continue to rise at an alarming rate. With more PAGA notices filed than ever before and wage and hour class...more
Beginning January 1, 2025, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota’s Wage Theft Ordinance went into effect. The Ordinance largely incorporates the State of Minnesota’s existing wage theft legislation. However, similar to the...more
The tragic fires in Southern California have touched many lives and impacted many businesses operating in California. Here, we want to alert employers of a notice requirement to newly hired nonexempt employees who will be...more
In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) fined a Minneapolis pizza restaurant for numerous wage and hour violations....more
Amid the ongoing Southern California wind and fire emergencies, California employers should keep in mind key emergency-related legal protections for employees and obligations placed on employers. Specifically, the Wage Theft...more
In this special end of year publication, we take a look back at another tumultuous year in Australian employment law following significant changes. Almost every area of Australian employment law has over the past two years...more
You have probably heard about the plight of Rudy Giuliani. Once known as “America’s Mayor” for his handling of the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, Mr. Giuliani has fallen on hard times. Because of a $148...more
Wage theft is a growing concern that poses significant threats to workers across Illinois and Chicago. This alert outlines recent legislative changes that expand the avenues for wage recovery for independent contractors,...more
In Guthrie v. Rainbow Fencing Inc., 113 F.4th 300 (2d Cir. 2024), the Second Circuit weighed in on a brewing dispute among New York district courts as to whether (and how) a plaintiff’s allegations may establish Article III...more
A number of employment law reforms and requirements are hitting Australian operations over the next several months. Laws governing wage theft, the right to disconnect, shut-down notices, privacy, sexual harassment, and...more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •FTC and Florida AG Put the Brakes on Alleged “Trucking...more
Illinois AG Kwame Raoul settled with TBJ Drywall & Taping, Inc. (TBJ), resolving allegations that the company misclassified employees and failed to pay overtime wages in violation of state labor and employment laws....more
Here are curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •District of Columbia AG Secures Record $3.75 Million...more
California - Workplace Violence Prevention Plans: Effective July 1, 2024, most employers will be required to establish and maintain a workplace violence prevention plan. Additionally, employers will be required to maintain...more
On May 15, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court held in Maia v. IEW Construction Group that both the six-year look-back period and liquidated damages provided by the state Wage Theft Act (WTA) do not apply retroactively....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New Jersey Supreme Court held that amendments to New Jersey’s Wage and Hour Law and Wage Payment Law that increase employer wage-hour liability are not retroactive....more
In a unanimous decision, on May 15, 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the state’s amendments (Chapter 212) to the Wage Payment Law (WPL) and the Wage and Hour Law (WHL) apply prospectively, and therefore plaintiffs...more
KEY TAKEAWAYS - For claims that accrued prior to August 6, 2019, the applicable statute of limitations under the Wage Theft Act remains two years. For claims that accrued on or after August 6, 2019, the applicable statute of...more
Governor Kathy Hochul signed an amendment to the New York Penal Law this past fall, designating “wage theft” as a form of criminal larceny. In doing so, she and the State Legislature targeted “bad faith” employers who violate...more
California employers in the agriculture industry are facing challenges this spring after two major developments last month. First, new rules took effect requiring employers to provide a special written notice to H-2A...more