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 May 27, 2025, Philadelphia enacted the Protect Our Workers, Enforce Rights Act (“POWER Act”), amending Title 9 of The Philadelphia Code as it pertains to the following sections: “Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces,”...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
City Council Passes POWER Act, Mobile Service Provider Regulations -During Thursday’s meeting, the City Council passed the POWER Act—which empowers Philadelphia’s Department of Labor to enforce existing worker protection laws...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
Last month, the Rhode Island General Assembly adjourned for 2022. Two years removed from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the legislative session finally returned to a familiar pace and structure. In contrast, the ongoing...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
To close out the 2021 legislative season, Governor Gavin Newsom signed dozens of bills into law, many of which directly affect California employers. In addition to the coverage in prior blog posts, which are linked below,...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
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
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
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 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
Every year, there are numerous state laws and local ordinances that take effect after the first of the year — and 2019 is no exception. Indeed, if anything, this year has seen a dramatic surge in the number of measures...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
The New York State Legislature gaveled in for the 2019-2020 Legislative Session on January 9, 2019, with Democrats in control of all three chambers of New York State government for the first time since the 2008-2009 session....more