Updated by Jamie Flom, February 12, 2020
E&U reminds all employers and employees that the Minnesota and Minneapolis new wage theft laws took effect on July 1, 2019 and January 1, 2020, respectively.1These new laws protect employees by ensuring they will be paid for work performed, and provide civil and criminal sanctions to employers who fail to meet the requirements of these laws.
The laws place additional obligations on employers, including specific record-keeping requirements. For example, all new hires must receive a formal notice of their wage rate, benefits, status, deductions, paydays, as well as specific information about the employer. The employee must sign this notice and can also request it be in another language besides English. Existing employees must be provided a written notice of any changes to their wages, etc., and also sign them. The obligations for employers and employees can be found in guidances prepared by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry by using the following links:
https://www.dli.mn.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/wage_theft_summary_employees.pdf https://www.dli.mn.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/wage_theft_summary_employers.pdf
The text of the Minnesota law may be found by using the following link:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2019/1/Session+Law/Chapter/7/
and the Minneapolis ordinance can be found by using the following link:
If you have any questions about the Minnesota and/or Minneapolis wage theft laws and your compliance with them, please contact one of the legal professionals at E&U.
1. The criminal sanctions part of the law takes effect on August 1.