This past weekend, Governor Tom Wolf's new legislation went into effect, expanding Pennsylvania's Minimum Wage Act (MWA) regulating overtime pay. The legislation increases the maximum salary an employee can earn and still be eligible for overtime.
Under the new law, beginning on January 1, 2020 workers who earn up to $35,568 annually may qualify for overtime. That salary level increases to $40,560 annually beginning on October 3, 2021, and will increase again to $45,500 on October 3, 2022. Beginning in 2023, the salary threshold will adjust automatically every three years. The legislation permits up to 10% of those salary levels to be satisfied by commissions, incentive payments, and non-discretionary bonuses.
In case you are keeping track:
Fifth Circuit: Overtime Exemption, FLSA and Helix Energy
A federal appeals court earlier this year handed down an important ruling in an unpaid overtime lawsuit brought by a plaintiff who claims that his employer violated various provisions of federal wage and hour laws, including failure to pay overtime.
With the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling , employers will no longer be able to satisfy the salary basis component required to qualify an employee as overtime-exempt under federal wage and hour laws.
Pennsylvania expands overtime pay eligibility | | phillytrib.com
HARRISBURG — After three years of work on the issue, Gov. Tom Wolf's administration said Pennsylvania will become one of a handful of states to expand eligibility for overtime pay beyond federal thresholds, which started on Saturday.
The Democratic governor first proposed the regulation three years ago amid a repeated failure to persuade the Republican-controlled Legislature to raise Pennsylvania's minimum wage above the federal baseline.
When it was approved in January by a regulatory board, the new overtime regulation was estimated to expand overtime pay eligibility to 82,000 of the very lowest-paid salaried workers through 2022, delivering another $20 million to nearly $23 million a year in increased earnings after the rule takes full effect.
24 Cities Where You Must Work Overtime Just to Pay the Rent
Across the nation, rent increases have slightly exceeded wage growth over the past 10 years, according to a report by Self.
The website says data from Zillow and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that between 2010 and 2019, the median monthly rent for a one-bedroom home rose by 20.5%, while the median hourly wage grew 17.6%.
But the situation is much tougher along the coasts. According to Self , the gap between wages and rents has "skyrocketed" in a few places:
This may worth something:
Pa. updates its overtime rules for the first time in four decades | ABC27
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — The majority of Pennsylvania’s lowest-paid salaried workers will now get time-and-a-half when they work overtime.
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This could make a significant difference to thousands of families, especially during the hardships of the pandemic.
The state says the goal of these modifications is to ensure workers are fairly and fully compensated in accordance with the original intent of the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.
DOL to Revise Interpretation of Who Is an Independent Contractor - Lexology
Whether a worker is an employee or an independent contract under FLSA has been subject to considerable litigation. DOL and the courts generally use a multifactor test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. The key inquiry is whether, as a matter of economic reality, the worker is dependent on a particular individual, business, or organization for work (and thus is an employee) or is in business for him- or herself (and thus is an independent contractor).
New overtime rule in Pennsylvania became effective over the weekend | Connect FM | Local News
“Oct. 3 marks the first update to the commonwealth’s overtime regulations in more than four decades,” said Secretary Oleksiak. “The modernized regulation will expand eligibility for overtime to 143,000 people and strengthen overtime protections for up to 251,000 or more. This final rule ensures that employees who work overtime are fairly and fully compensated for their labor in accordance with the original intent of the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act.”
10 Sneaky Ways Your Employer Could Be Committing Wage Theft
"There are three reasons for this," Ottinger explained. "First, a lack of government resources to enforce the wage laws. Second, class actions were the primary way to enforce the law and the U.S. Supreme Court has made those harder to bring. Third, the advent of mandatory arbitration by employers now keeps aggrieved employees out of court."
Employers' failure to pay minimum wage is one of the most common forms of wage theft, said Ottinger. Federal, state and local laws set out the minimum amount per hour an employer must pay its employees. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour; in Washington, D.C. the rate is $15 an hour.
Happening on Twitter
@realDonaldTrump If you live in Pennsylvania — & need to get registered to vote — I will personally help you. I'm… https://t.co/pNQGQtWRLQ ScottPresler (from Make Kindness Cool Again) Mon Oct 05 21:56:20 +0000 2020
DOJ announcement about discarded ballots in Pennsylvania violated DOJ policy and Barr's own memo. https://t.co/RU83dNKDfS BarbMcQuade (from Ann Arbor, MI) Tue Oct 06 14:03:55 +0000 2020
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