You asked, we listened.

In this 2-minute video, G&A Partners' VP of Client Services shares what our teams have been doing to make it easier, faster, and more enjoyable for you to connect with us, including:

  • Creating an on-demand support team for client contacts (like you!);
  • Improving the menu options in our phone system; and
  • Adding more self-service options to the WorkSight chat tool.

Watch the short video to hear more from Kim about each of these improvements!

 

News to Know

 

January 2020 Compliance Updates

New year, new employment laws.

As part of our efforts to help you stay up-to-date on applicable employment laws, we have prepared a list of updates to federal, state, and local laws and regulations that are taking effect in January 2020 where we know our clients have employees. 

In addition to several changes at the federal level, the following states have new laws or updates to existing regulations taking effect in January: 

Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado
Florida Illinois Maine Maryland Massachusetts
Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana Nevada
New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oregon
Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont
Washington        
Click on the name of each state to view the list of changes. All changes took effect on January 1, 2020, unless otherwise noted.

 

Changes at the Federal Level:

  • IRS Clarification Regarding Corporate Tax Structure: The IRS has issued a clarification concerning sole proprietors and partners. If you haven't already completed the online survey or spoken with a G&A representative regarding this matter, please contact your G&A Client Advocate as soon as possible to confirm your corporate tax structure.  (We have already notified our clients about this change but wanted to reiterate again here because of its importance.)
  • FLSA Exemption Threshold Increase: The minimum standard salary/exempt threshold for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has increased from $23,660/year ($455/week) to $35,568/year ($684/week). The annual threshold for "highly compensated" employees has also increased from $100,000/year to $107,432/year. (We have already notified our clients about this change but wanted to reiterate again here because of its importance.)
  • Changes to Federal Form W-4: You may have heard that the IRS made significant changes to Form W-4 for 2020. The good news is that not all employees need to complete a new form; only those who are hired in 2020 or want to claim exempt in 2020. If you or your employees have questions about the updated form, we encourage you to visit the W-4 FAQ page on the IRS website.
  • Federal Contractor Minimum Wage: Federal contractors must pay covered workers at least $10.80 per hour; covered tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts must be paid a cash wage of at least $7.55 per hour.
  • DHHS Oral Fluid Testing Approved: The standards established for oral fluid drug testing for federal employees by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) take effect.
  • FMCSA Clearinghouse: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Clearinghouse became operational on January 6, 2020. FMCSA-covered employers must use the Clearinghouse to report commercial motor vehicle drivers’ drug and alcohol program violations.

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Changes at the State Level:

 

Alaska

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $10.19/hour.

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Arizona

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $12.00/hour.

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Arkansas

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $10.00/hour.

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California

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage for small employers (25 or fewer employees) is $12.00/hour; the state minimum wage for large employers (26+ employees) is $13.00/hour.
  • South San Francisco Minimum Wage Increase: The minimum wage for South San Francisco is $15.00/hour.
  • Sexual Harassment Training Requirement: Extends the harassment training deadline for supervisory employees to January 1, 2021; clarifies that an employer that has provided harassment training to an employee after January 1, 2019, is not required to do so again until after December 31, 2020.
  • Hairstyle Anti-Discrimination Law: Clarifies that race is inclusive of traits associated with race under California’s employment discrimination law.
  • Lactation Requirements: Following San Francisco’s lead, California significantly expanded the obligation of most employers to provide break time and a location to express breast milk.
  • Wage Theft Act: An employer or any agent of an employer commits theft by: (1) willfully refusing to pay wages or compensation, (2) falsely denying the amount of a wage claim or the validity thereof with the intent to secure a discount on the indebtedness or with the intent to annoy, harass, oppress, hinder, coerce, delay, or defraud the employee.

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Colorado

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $12.00/hour.
  • Denver Minimum Wage Increase: The minimum wage for Denver is $12.85/hour.

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Florida

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $8.56/hour. 

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Illinois

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $9.25/hour.
  • Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (HB 252): Provides that "employer" includes any person employing one (instead of 15) or more employees within Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks within the calendar year of or preceding the alleged violation.
  • Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act: Individuals age 21 years and older will be able to legally possess and consume cannabis, cannabis concentrate and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in cannabis-infused products. Employers have the ability to conduct pre-employment and random drug tests (employers may also conduct reasonable-suspicion and post-accident tests) and to take action due to a failure of a drug test. Workplace drug policies still must be both reasonable and nondiscriminatory. 
  • Gender-Neutral Restrooms: Requires every single-occupancy restroom in a place of public accommodation or public building to be identified as all-gender and designated for use by no more than one person at a time or for family or assisted use.
  • Workplace Transparency Act (WTA): The WTA addresses many aspects of workplace discrimination and harassment, such as limiting non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses, excluding certain claims from forced arbitration, mandating sexual harassment training and reporting, and broadening the scope of the worker protections against discrimination and harassment. The reporting requirements include the number of settlements entered into during the preceding calendar year based on each of the protected classes identified by this Act; and the number of adverse judgments or administrative rulings filed during the preceding calendar year based on each of the protected classes identified by this Act. 

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Maine

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $12.00/hour. 

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Maryland

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $11.00/hour. 

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Massachusetts

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $12.75/hour. 

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Michigan

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $9.65/hour. 

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Minnesota

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage for small employers (less than $500,000 in annual revenue) is $8.15/hour; the state minimum wage for large employers (at least $500,000 in annual revenue) is $10.00/hour. 
  • Minneapolis Wage Theft Ordinance: An employer shall pay all wages owed to an employee by reason of employment, for work performed in the City of Minneapolis, on the regularly established payday identified in the pre-hire notice required. The written notice must include (1) the date on which the employment is to begin, (2) a notice of the employee’s rights under the Sick and Safe Time Ordinance and the date on which the employee will begin to accrue Sick and Safe Time, (3) the employer’s policy regarding gratuities, if applicable, (4) the overtime policy applicable to the employee’s position, if any, including when overtime shall be paid and the applicable rate or rates of pay. In addition, the ordinance will require employers to comply with recordkeeping requirements, provide earnings statements, and post the required notices in a conspicuous place. 

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Missouri

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $9.45/hour. 

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Montana

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $8.65/hour.

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Nevada

  • Paid Personal Leave: Requires private employers with 50 or more employees in Nevada to provide certain employees working in the state with up to 40 hours of paid leave per year, to be used for any purpose, including non-medical personal reasons.
  • Pre-Employment Marijuana Tests Prohibition: Pre-employment drug testing for marijuana is illegal in the state of Nevada. The law does not apply to applicants who apply for positions as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, operators of motor vehicles who are required to submit to drug tests, or other potions that “in the determination of the employer, could adversely affect the safety of others.”

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New Jersey

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $11.00/hour.
  • Hairstyle Anti-Discrimination Law: Amendment broadens the definition of “race” to provide greater protection for individual hairstyles and prohibit hair discrimination in the workplace, housing, and schools.
  • Salary History Ban: Prohibits employer inquiries about an applicant’s salary history.

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New Mexico

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $9.00/hour. 

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New York

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: Effective December 31, 2019, the state minimum wage is $11.80/hour. 
  • New York City Minimum Wage Increase: The minimum wage for New York City is $15.00/hour. 
  • Salary History Ban: Effective January 6, 2020, employers are prohibited from requesting, requiring or relying on wage or salary history from applicants or current employees seeking employment, continued employment or promotion. New York's stated purpose of the law is to ensure equal pay for equal work and prevent wage discrimination.

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Ohio

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $8.70/hour. 

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Oregon

  • Amendments to Equal Pay Law: Clarifies what constitutes an equal pay violation under Oregon’s equal pay statute, which makes it unlawful to discriminate in the payment of wages based on sex, or to pay wages to an employee at a lower rate than to employees of the opposite sex for comparable work. 
  • Pregnancy and Childbirth Accommodation Laws: Expressly requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, absent undue hardship.

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Rhode Island

  • Noncompete Agreements: Effective January 15, 2020, a noncompetition agreement is not enforceable against the following types of workers: (1) employees that are nonexempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, (2) undergraduate or graduate students participating in an internship or other short-term employment relationship while enrolled in an educational institution, whether paid or unpaid, (3) employees aged 18 or younger, (4) low wage employees.

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South Dakota

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $9.30/hour. 

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Tennessee

  • Factor Test in Independent Contractor Analysis: Tennessee Code is amended such that statutory employment obligations apply only “if the individual performs services for an employer for wages and the services performed by the individual qualify as an employer-employee relationship with the employer based upon consideration of the twenty (20) factors as described in Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 87-41, 1987-1 C.B. 296. 

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Texas

  • Data Breach Notification Requirements: HB 4390 amends the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act by requiring that Texas residents be notified of a data security breach within sixty (60) days of the determination that a breach has occurred.

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Vermont

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $10.96/hour. 

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Washington

  • State Minimum Wage Increase: The state minimum wage is $13.50/hour. 
  • Washington Paid Family Leave: Employees can begin to use leave benefits under the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Act (WA PFMLA) on January 1, 2020.  The WA PFMLA is a combination of both insurance benefits and leave rights.  It replaces an unpaid family and medical leave law.  The WA PFMLA is administered by the Employment Security Department (the "Department" or ESD), which has issued several rounds of regulations implementing the WA PFMLA.  Employers should note that one round of regulations is still pending and has not yet been finalized. 

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