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
On May 27, 2025, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signed the Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights Act (POWER Act). The ordinance, found here, aims to enhance protections related to paid sick leave, wage theft, and domestic...more
On June 9, 2025, Governor Tina Kotek signed SB 426 into law. The bill, set to become effective on January 1, 2026, follows the Oregon Legislature’s ongoing attempts to pass a “wage theft” bill imposing strict liability on...more
New York Codifies Employer Requirement to Notify Employees of Unemployment Benefit Rights - Gov. Hochul signed S4878A/A298. The law amends New York Labor Law Section 590 by adding a section that requires employers...more
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a slew of new bills into law at the close of California’s legislative season. Below is a summary of the new employment laws, all of which take effect on January 1, 2022....more
With the 2021 California legislative year closed, it is now time to examine the new legislation that will affect California companies. We have summarized the key new legislation below, with relevant action items noted....more
On September 27, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s Assembly Bill 1003 into law. This new legislation establishes that intentional theft of wages or tips by employers is punishable...more
On May 25, 2021, both houses of the Illinois General Assembly approved an amendment to the State’s Wage Payment and Collection Act (“the Act”). The change would require employers who violate the Act to pay damages of 5% of...more
The Virginia legislature ended its term by passing a host of new laws that expand liability for employers on a variety of critical wage and hour issues. Virginia’s legislative session—its first in more than two decades with...more
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the 2020-2021 state budget bills, which include several amendments to New York’s Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA). ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Governor Murphy signed 153 bills into law on January 20, 2020, including six (6) that increase enforcement mechanisms for state agencies to impose certain penalties against employers who misclassify workers...more
Students across the country are heading back to school, but most state legislatures are either in recess or have adjourned for 2019. States that were still in session in August did advance several significant bills, while the...more
On August 8, 2019, the Minneapolis City Council joined the state of Minnesota in requiring wage notices. The ordinance—which goes into effect on January 1, 2020, and applies to any employers who have an employee who works at...more
On August 6, 2019, New Jersey enacted its Wage Theft Law, transforming the state’s wage and hour laws into one of the most robust in the country. As discussed below, the law substantially expands the civil and criminal...more
On August 8, 2019, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed the Wage Theft Prevention Ordinance, creating new requirements for Minneapolis employers and giving the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights enforcement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 6, 2019, Acting New Jersey Governor Sheila Oliver signed into law A-2903/S-1790, described as an Act “concerning enforcement, penalties, and procedures for law regarding failure to pay wages.” ...more
On the heels of the broadest Pay Equity law in the country, New Jersey has just passed the broadest wage theft law in the country, which is certain to lead to increased litigation. Unwary employers may not only be facing...more
One month after the State of Minnesota’s Wage Theft Statute went into effect, the Minneapolis City Council has unanimously adopted its own Wage Theft Ordinance. The ordinance—which goes into effect on January 1, 2020—applies...more
Minnesota’s wage theft law, which largely went into effect on July 1, 2019, created new documentation and recordkeeping requirements for employers, including a required written notice that must be distributed to employees and...more
The New York Senate and Assembly recently passed Senate Bill S2844B to strengthen current laws for employees who are victim of wage theft to secure and collect unpaid wages for work already performed from their employers....more
The Minnesota Legislature recently passed a law that creates significant new notice and recordkeeping requirements, recognizes “wage theft,” and imposes heightened civil and criminal penalties for violations....more
Starting today, Minnesota has one of the toughest wage theft laws in the country. The civil portions of Minnesota’s new Wage Theft Law, effective July 1, 2019, require employees to take the following additional actions...more
In one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting employers in many years, the Minnesota Legislature passed, and Governor Walz signed, the Jobs and Economic Development Omnibus bill that includes new wage theft...more
Recent legislation in Colorado and Minnesota imposes harsh criminal penalties—including potential felony convictions—for the failure to pay wages. To limit their exposure under these strict new laws, employers with...more
On May 16, 2019, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law H.B. 1267, which reclassifies the failure to pay employee wages as "theft." The new law, which will go into effect on January 1, 2020...more
Lawmakers in Colorado are in the process of evaluating House Bill 1267, which would reclassify wage theft from a misdemeanor to a felony if the amount at issue exceeds $2,000.00....more