Sacramento Establishes Minimum Wage for 2017

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Sacramento among growing list of U.S. cities moving toward indexed minimum wages.

The Sacramento City Council adopted an ordinance to establish a citywide minimum wage of $10.50 in 2017 with incremental increases to $12.50 per hour by 2020. Thereafter, the City would adjust the rate for inflation annually based on inflation levels indicated by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The ordinance covers all businesses within the city limits of Sacramento; however, businesses with fewer than 40 employees can delay implementation for six months.

Sacramento Minimum Wage Schedule

Sacramento’s minimum wage will reach $12.50 per hour by 2020 and allows a six-month “small business delay” for employers with fewer than 40 employees. The rate increases in the following stages.

101 or more employees

  • January 1, 2017: $10.50
  • January 1, 2018: $11.00
  • January 1, 2019: $11.75
  • January 1, 2020: $12.50
  • January 1, 2021: Indexed to CPI

100 or fewer employees

  • July 1, 2017: $10.50
  • July 1, 2018: $11.00
  • July 1, 2019: $11.75
  • July 1, 2020: $12.50
  • July 1, 2021: Indexed to CPI

Exemptions to Sacramento Minimum Wage

Workers in the following classifications are exempted from the Sacramento minimum wage are eligible rates determined under California or Federal minimum wage requirements.

  • Workers 17 years old or younger
  • Workers with developmental disabilities

Sacramento Minimum Wage Posting Requirements

Sacramento will release a required minimum wage posting, most likely late 2016 to satisfy the posting requirements detailed in the new ordinance:

By December 1st of each year, the City shall publish and make available to employers a

notice announcing the minimum wage rates for the upcoming year. Employers shall post the notice in a conspicuous place in each workplace that is visible to all of their employees.

The new Sacramento minimum wage ordinance doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2017, so no need to rush out and order posters just yet. Depending on how the City designs the initial posting, businesses may have to update the Sacramento minimum wage notice each year.

GovDocs City Posting Coverage

The trend nationally is for more cities and counties to implement minimum wage and paid sick leave ordinances that also require businesses to display workplace notices. For large companies with locations across the country, this adds a layer of complexity for posting compliance managers.

Enter GovDocs.

Fortunately, locations in Sacramento covered under the GovDocs Update Program will automatically receive the required posting before the January 1, 2017 effective date.

GovDocs currently monitors more than 80 cities in the U.S. based on population and whether they have ordinances requiring postings. Our city posting coverage helps GovDocs live up to our promise to help North America’s largest employers eliminate barriers to total posting compliance.

If you have 50 or more locations and are ready to simplify posting coverage, please contact us!

Michigan Updates Required Health & Safety Notice

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Michigan has updated its Safety and Health Protection on the Job notice, which is required for all Michigan businesses to display.

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The revised Michigan Safety & Health Protection on the Job notice informs workers that their employers must now notify the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs within 24 hours of any work-related inpatient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.

The revised version includes an updated consultation phone number.

Michigan Safety and Health Protection Posting Requirements

The revised Michigan Safety & Health Protection on the Job notice is required for all Michigan employers to display. The notice is part of the GovDocs Michigan Posting Compliance Package with other postings required for Michigan businesses:

  • Unemployment Insurance
  • Minimum Wage Law
  • Youth Employment Standards Act
  • Safety & Health Protection on the Job
  • Civil Rights Law Prohibits Discrimination
  • Right To Know – MSDS
  • Right To Know – MSDS (New or Revised)
  • Whistleblowers’ Protection Act
  • No Smoking

Subscribers to this blog can save an additional 20% on all compliance poster purchases by using coupon code BLOG20 at check out.

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Federal Contractors: Posting Requirement Stands

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A challenge opposing a pro-union workplace posting lost in U.S. District Court.

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President Obama issued Executive Order 13496 in 2009, which prompted the U.S. Department of Labor to release a new workplace posting for Federal contractors, Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations Act. The posting reminds employees of contractors with contracts from the Federal government valued at $100,000 or more that they have the right to organize a union and use collective bargaining.

Two groups representing Federal contractors took the posting and its rule to court and lost.

The National Association of Manufacturers and Virginia Manufacturers Association argued that the regulations compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment and that the President and Department of Labor lacked the authority to issue the rule (Civil No. 1:13-cv-01998).

On the first charge, the trade group representatives argued that employers would be forced to communicate a pro-union message to workers, even if participating companies held other opinions about unions. The Court, however, determined that:

“…the Posting Rule does not require a contractor to speak at all. Rather, the contractor is required to host government speech as a condition of receipt of a federal contract. That, of course, presents a contractor with a choice—agree to post the Notice or forgo federal contracting.”

Government contractors and subcontractors involved in Federal contracts valued at $100,000 or more are required to post the notice:

“…in conspicuous places in and about [their] plants and offices where employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act engage in activities relating to the performance of the contract, including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted both physically and electronically.” [29 C.F.R. § 471, Subpt. A, App. A.]

Contractors covered by the rule who fail to display the posting risk having their contracts with Federal agencies cancelled.

Employers may recall the NLRB posting debacle of 2011 wherein the Board tried issuing a posting required for U.S. employers. Two different Courts ruled they lacked both the authority to issue posting requirements and the power of enforcement.

In the more recent case of E.O. 13496, however, the combined authority of President Obama and the DOL make for power only the Wonder Twins could dream of.

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San Francisco 2015 Minimum Wage Increase

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San Francisco employers must pay workers at least $12.25 per hour beginning May 1, 2015.

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Voters passed Proposition J in November 2014, raising the minimum wage to $15.00 by 2018 in scheduled increases. Beginning in 2019, the San Francisco minimum wage rate will be adjusted annually based on changes to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

San Francisco Minimum Wage Increase Schedule

The San Francisco minimum wage will increase according to the following schedule:

Effective Date Minimum Wage Rate
5/1/2015 $12.25
7/1/2016 $13.00
7/1/2017 $14.00
7/1/2018 $15.00
July 1 2019 and beyond CPI Increase

San Francisco Minimum Wage Notice and Posting Requirements

The San Francisco Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO) requires every employer to post notices in English, Spanish, Chinese and:

“…in and any other language spoken by at least five percent of the Employees at the workplace or job site.”

Employers must also provide each employee the employer’s name, address and telephone number in writing at the time of hire.

The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement is authorized to fine employers $500 for each instance of failing to post or failing to provide the employer’s contact information in writing.

San Francisco Compliance Posters

Subscribers to GovDocs labor law news can take an additional 20% off of their purchase of the GovDocs San Francisco City Posting Compliance Package by using coupon code BLOG20. The package contains the new San Francisco 2015 Minimum Wage posting and other postings required for San Francisco employers:

  • San Francisco Minimum Wage (6-Language version)
  • San Francisco Paid Sick Leave (6-Language version)
  • San Francisco No Smoking
  • San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance (6-Language version)
  • San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace (6-Language version)
  • San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance posting
  • San Francisco Employment Discrimination is Against the Law

GovDocs City Posting Coverage

San Francisco is just one of more than 40 cities in the U.S. that issues postings required or recommended for employers. Thanks to the nationwide trend of tying minimum wage rates to cost-of-living adjustments (like in San Francisco beginning 2019), more and more workplace postings require frequent replacement.

For large employers (businesses with 50 or more locations), GovDocs suggests using an automatic compliance program to ensure uninterrupted posting coverage for all your employees. Request a price quote from GovDocs today.

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