Alaska employers should be aware that the state adjusts its minimum salary threshold for overtime exemption based on the minimum wage. Accordingly, the salary threshold will increase from $1,040 to $1,120 per week on July 1, 2026.

One more change comes later in the year: Florida’s minimum wage will increase from $14.00 to $15.00 on September 30, 2026.

Effective January 1, 2026, 18 states, along with many local jurisdictions, raised their minimum wage requirements, and six states adjusted salary thresholds for exempt executive, administrative, and professional employees. Employers should review these changes and ensure ongoing compliance.

Many Changes Coming in California

As it often does, California leads the way with a patchwork of minimum wage increases across localities and industries scheduled for this summer.

Los Angeles Prepares for the Olympics with Proposed Wage Increases

Employers, workers, and advocates have been closely following headlines regarding Los Angeles’s so-called “Olympic Wage” initiative. The legislation in question, Ordinance 188610, requires higher minimum wages, minimum health benefits, and training standards for employees of large hotels and employers servicing the Los Angeles International Airport (“LAX”). This is not the first time these industries have been singled out; however, this proposal specifically contemplates the upcoming 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics.

Quite often, the quick solution for this concern is through a traditional business arrangement: contractual indemnification.  Shifting risk of loss via contract is fairly standard, especially as courts generally enforce the unambiguous terms of the parties’ agreement.  Yet employers should take note of a concerning trend among courts across the country, which have in some cases refused to enforce indemnification agreements in Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) matters on public policy grounds.

In drawing its conclusion, the court focused on the NJWPL’s definition of “wages,” which is defined as “direct monetary compensation for labor or services rendered by an employee, where the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, or commission basis.” N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.1(c) (emphasis added).

Addressing these issues proactively and resolving potential disputes are vital for maintaining compliance and reducing risks.

In this one-on-one interview, Epstein Becker Green (EBG) attorney Paul DeCamp sits down with fellow EBG attorney George Whipple to offer his seasoned perspective on wage and hour matters. Tapping into his experience as the former head of the Wage and Hour Division under President George W. Bush, Paul provides an insider’s view of government enforcement priorities, compliance pitfalls, and the complexities employers face when disputes arise.

If you know what I’m referring to, you don’t need to read any further.  But if you don’t, well, please read on.

A great many employment lawsuits include claims against alleged “joint employers” – for instance, a temporary staffing company and the client to which the employee was assigned, or related corporate entities that share similar names (and, perhaps, shared services, which is another issue).

And in many of those lawsuits, plaintiffs and their counsel have simply lumped the two companies together and have alleged that “defendants” engaged in unlawful conduct, without making any effort to distinguish between the two defendants, much less their alleged conduct.

This year, 23 states—and several counties and cities—will increase their minimum wages and, where applicable, tipped minimum wage. Most of these increases went into effect on January 1, 2025.

Employers with minimum wage (and tipped minimum wage) workers should discuss newly implemented increases with counsel to ensure their compensation practices comply across all relevant jurisdictions.

Alaska

In Alaska, voters passed by a narrow margin Ballot Measure 1, which will increase the state’s minimum wage from the current rate of $11.73 per hour to $13.00 per hour on July 1, 2025. It will subsequently rise to $14.00 per hour on July 1, 2026, and $15.00 per hour on July 1, 2027. Increases thereafter will be calculated based on inflation.

Ballot Measure 1 included other provisions affecting workplaces. Its passage means that many employers will need to comply with new paid sick leave requirements. Starting July 1, 2025, eligible employees will accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and will be allowed to use at least 40 and up to 56 hours of accrued paid sick leave annually, depending on how many employees work for their employer.

A third portion of Ballot Measure 1, also effective July 1, 2025, prohibits so-called “captive audience” meetings. The new law will prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who refuse to attend company meetings about political or religious topics.

Reasonable Break Time to Pump

Under the FLSA, nursing employees are entitled to reasonable break time during the workday to express breast milk for their nursing child for one year following the child’s birth. The employee must be entitled to a break “each time such employee has need to express milk.” The frequency, duration, and timing of the breaks an employee may need will likely vary depending on the employee and child.

Employers are not required to pay non-exempt employees for break time to pump unless otherwise required by applicable law, or if the employees are not completely relieved of their duties while pumping. Under the Department of Labor (DOL) regulations implementing the FLSA, breaks of 20 minutes or less must be paid, and if an employer provides such breaks to its employees generally, nursing employees may use such paid breaks to pump. Additionally, if an employer provides paid breaks to all employees, the employer must pay employees who choose to pump during their paid breaks.

As we have previously discussed on this blog, the regular rate is a term of art that encompasses all nondiscretionary payments to an employee, and not just hourly wages—subject to certain exceptions. (For a discussion of what must be included in the regular rate, please see our prior post.) If, for instance, an hourly, non-exempt employee receives a productivity bonus, the regular rate for that employee is the hourly rate of pay plus the productivity bonus.

The Department of Labor Fact Sheet #56A explains the basic calculation of the regular rate in the following way:

Total compensation in the workweek (exclusive of statutory exclusions) ÷ Total hours worked in the workweek = Regular rate for the workweek

How We Got Here

In 2018, labor advocacy groups presented the Michigan legislature with two voter initiatives related to minimum wage (the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act (IWOWA)) and paid sick leave (the Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA)) through the state’s citizen initiative process. Michigan’s constitution allows voter initiatives to propose legislation, and the legislature may take one of these three actions: (1) adopt “without change or amendment”; (2) reject and place the proposed legislation on the ballot; or (3) reject and propose an amendment, placing both on the ballot. As we previously explained, the Legislature quickly enacted amended versions of the IWOWA (2018 PA 368) and the ESTA, which was renamed the Paid Medical Leave Act (PMLA) (2018 PA 369), with significant changes. As we detailed here, the amended versions of these laws were less burdensome to employers.

The legislature’s actions led the initiatives’ advocates to file a legal action challenging the lawmakers’ authority to modify a voter initiative so quickly and dramatically through a process labeled “adopt and amend.”  That lawsuit has wended its way through Michigan’s courts, with the final outcome decided on July 31, 2024, echoing that of the initial holding issued in 2022: the Michigan legislature’s adoption-and-amendment of the two initiatives violated the State constitution’s provision on voter initiatives. Hence, those amendments are void as unconstitutional and the laws as originally conceived should take effect.

Why Use a Payroll Debit Card?

There a number of benefits associated with payroll debit cards both for employers and employees. Employers can benefit from payroll debit cards by avoiding the cost of printing and mailing paychecks for all participating employees. Payroll debit cards are helpful for employees who do not have bank accounts and wish to avoid check cashing fees or other fees associated with maintaining a bank account. Additionally, payroll debit cards may provide a nimbler mechanism for employers who desire to offer a more flexible pay period option for employees, such as daily or instant pay.

The New Salary Thresholds

The salary ...

Traditionally, D.C.’s wage and hour law has required employers to pay employees at least the D.C. minimum wage when they (i) perform more than 50% of their work in the District, or (ii) the employee is based in D.C., and “regularly spends a ...

Vinay Mehra, the Globe’s President from 2017 until his June 2020 termination, filed ...

Salaried Exempt Employees

Under the FLSA, employers may not deduct from the salary of an employee classified ...

While there is no evidence that this has ever happened anywhere, and no logical reason why it would, plaintiffs’ lawyers and even some courts seem to believe this could happen. And that is at the heart of the latest battleground over arbitration agreements with class actions waivers.

Since the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, more and more ...