Complying With the New Minneapolis Wage Theft Ordinance and Its Notice Requirements

Continuing its independent program of workplace regulations, Minneapolis has enacted its own wage theft ordinance and accompanying notice requirements that largely duplicate Minnesota’s wage theft statute. Employers that have already complied with the requirements of the statewide law, which went into effect July 1, 2019, may want to take note of the additional requirements of the ordinance as to employees who work in the city. The ordinance will take effect on January 1, 2020.

Here are the salient provisions of the new ordinance that differ from state law.

1. All current employees and future hires who are covered by the ordinance must receive the city’s prehire notice, unless they have already received the information contained in the notice. The notice must be given to current employees during the first full payroll period in 2020.
2. The sample city prehire notice is nearly identical to the state form. Employers may use a single form to satisfy the requirements of both laws.
3. A new city poster that includes information regarding the city’s sick and safe time, minimum wage, and wage theft ordinances (in several languages) may be downloaded on the city’s website. Employers should post and begin using the new notice by January 1, 2020.
4. Both prehire and earnings notices must provide information about sick and safe time hours and when they can be used. The prehire notice must include the accrual rate, or the frontloaded amount per year, of sick and safe time, as well as the earliest date the employee may begin to use sick and safe time (no later than 90 days following the employee’s start date).
5. Earnings notices must include the employee’s accumulated hours of sick and safe time available for use.
6. For tipped positions, the prehire notice must state that tip sharing is voluntary under state law. An employer may not require tip sharing or tip pooling.
7. Employers must give the notice to an employee who does not work regularly in the city if he or she works at least 80 hours per year in the city. Employers may want to assume this applies to delivery drivers and other “on-demand” employees who are dispatched to perform work in the city. The ordinance does not apply to employees who are merely attending conventions, conferences, or educational classes in the city, but who perform no other work within the city.
8. Employees must sign the initial prehire notice and change notices. Factual changes to the information in the prehire notice require a new notice. However, notice of a wage increase, if given in advance, does not require a new notice or the employee’s signature.