Insights Archive - Ogletree Deakins

Minneapolis Enacts ‘Hospitality Worker Right to Recall’ Ordinance, Effective May 1, 2021

Hospitality and event center workers received additional job rights protection under a new ordinance passed by the Minneapolis City Council. The new ordinance requires employers to recall those workers, if and when they are needed in reverse order of seniority. Ordinance No.2021-12, entitled “Hospitality Worker Right to Recall,” seeks to minimize the impact on affected employees in an industry particularly hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and to stabilize the workforce.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Employer’s Handbook Disclaimer Fails on PTO Policy Under Wage Payment Statute

Minnesota employers will be heading back to the drawing board to revise their handbook disclaimers. The Minnesota Supreme Court now requires specific language in policies that set out the terms and conditions for payment of certain employee benefits such as payouts of vacation and paid time off (PTO).

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Working Remotely? Welcome to Minneapolis and Its SST Ordinance

Now that the Minnesota Supreme Court has settled the issue of applying the Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time (SST) ordinance to employers “with no physical presence in Minneapolis,” what does this mean for employers with employees who are working remotely in their homes within the city? It may mean that those employees are covered by the Minneapolis SST ordinance and possibly by other similar ordinances.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minneapolis’s Sick and Safe Time Ordinance Applies to All Employees Who Work in City, State Supreme Court Rules

The City of Minneapolis’s Sick and Safe Time Ordinance requiring employers with employees who perform at least 80 hours of work in a year in the city with paid time off for illness or other personal matters does not conflict with state laws on the subject, nor does it unlawfully extend the city’s laws outside its geographic boundaries.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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

Minneapolis has enacted its own wage theft ordinance and accompanying notice requirements that largely duplicate Minnesota’s wage theft statute.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota DLI Issues Updated FAQ on Wage Theft, Other Employer Expectations

In late July 2019, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) released an update to its FAQ on Minnesota’s new wage theft law, including 37 new questions and answers to further clarify what is expected of employers under the statute. The new FAQ provides important guidance on several key points, while at the same time leaving other important questions unanswered. The following is a summary of several of the most commonly asked questions and DLI’s answers.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minneapolis Wage Theft Ordinance to Go Into Effect on January 1, 2020

Joining a chorus of cities and states addressing concerns involving employers’ failure to properly calculate employees’ pay, or to pay them at all, allowing employees to work “off the clock,” or take unauthorized or illegal deductions, on August 8, 2019, the City of Minneapolis enacted an ordinance prohibiting “wage theft,” which will go into effect on January 1, 2020.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Wage Theft Statute, Part II: New Notice, Disclosure, and Recordkeeping Requirements

In our previous article, we summarized the key provisions of Minnesota’s new “wage theft” law. This article focuses specifically on the notices and disclosures employers are required to provide to their employees under the law, as well as new recordkeeping requirements.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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California Dreaming: Minnesota Legislature Enacts Sweeping Wage Theft Law

The Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its 2019 legislative session with a one-day special session last month that resulted in the passage of an omnibus appropriations bill, the Jobs and Economic Development Omnibus. The legislation includes new and surprising notice and recordkeeping mandates for Minnesota employers and creates new civil and criminal penalties for “wage theft.” In addition, it grants more authority to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) to enforce compliance with the new statute.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

Brent D. Kettelkamp Minneapolis Author

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What Is CBD Oil and Why Should Employers Care to Know?

Recent federal legislation removed hemp and hemp-derived products, including hemp-derived CBD, from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which drastically increased their marketability. Since the use and production of CBD oil and related products derived from hemp are now lawful under federal law and in most states, employers may want to learn the basics about CBD and what it means for their workforces.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Legislative Update, Part III: Regular Session Winds Down With Many Bills Left in the Hopper

As the 2019 regular session of the Minnesota Legislature draws to a close, lawmakers in St. Paul are deadlocked on the budget bill. As a result, many of the bills we reported on in our previous articles are stalled in committee or unlikely to see final action this year. The legislature must end its regular session on Monday, May 20, 2019, and it’s unclear whether there will be a special session.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

Brent D. Kettelkamp Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Court of Appeals Lifts Injunction That Limited Minneapolis Sick and Safe Time Ordinance to Employers Within City

In the latest chapter of the Minneapolis Sick and Safe time ordinance saga, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has ended an injunction issued by a lower court that limited the ordinance to employers located within the city of Minneapolis.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Supreme Court Expands and Contracts Human Rights Act Coverage in Two Decisions on Disability Discrimination

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently issued two decisions affecting employers in the state. In one, the high court overruled a 30-year-old precedent that excluded disabilities covered by the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Act from the disability discrimination provisions of the Minnesota Human Rights Act. In the other, the court held that the Minnesota Human Rights Act does not require that employers engage in an interactive process when considering reasonable accommodations for an employee with a disability.

Brent D. Kettelkamp Minneapolis Author

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Legislative Update, Part II: Bills to Watch

In part one of this series, we reported on several legislative developments in Minnesota that could impact employers. Now the Minnesota Legislature has proposed more bills affecting the workplace. These bills could alter the standard for sexual harassment, preempt local wage and sick leave laws, prohibit discrimination against unemployed job applicants, change the definition of “wage theft,” and further gender equality legislation.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

Brent D. Kettelkamp Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Legislative Update: Bills to Watch

The Minnesota Legislature is in session through May 20, 2019. This session promises to be very active with numerous bills affecting employers and the workplace. Major bills include paid leaves of absence (including family and sick leave), restrictions on an employer’s ability to access social media accounts, right-to-work legislation, vaccination exemptions, wage theft, and the legal standard for sexual harassment, and making available to a complaining party more information regarding the employer’s investigation and corrective action.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Duluth Joins Twin Cities to Become Third City in Minnesota to Pass a Safe and Sick Time Ordinance, but Differences From Minneapolis and St. Paul Ordinances May Cause Headaches for Employers

Continuing a national trend, on May 30, 2018, the Duluth City Council enacted an ordinance requiring private businesses that employ five or more employees to provide paid sick and safe leave to employees.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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St. Paul Will Gradually Phase In a $15 Minimum Wage Over the Next Several Years

Minimum wage rates for employees of the largest businesses in St. Paul will increase to $15 per hour on July 1, 2022.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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The Times They Are A Changin’: Minnesota Bill Would Remove “Severe or Pervasive” Sexual Harassment Standard

After suffering two embarrassing departures of its members in the wake of sexual harassment complaints by staffers and female members, the Minnesota Legislature is considering amending the state’s discrimination statute to state that a plaintiff need not prove that the sexual harassment was “severe or pervasive.”

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota and Minneapolis Minimum Wage Rates to Increase on January 1, 2018

Minimum wage rates for most employees in Minnesota will increase on January 1, 2018. Both the state of Minnesota’s automatic minimum wage hike and a new minimum wage ordinance for workers in the city of Minneapolis will take effect on that date.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Supreme Court Kills Employment at Will

On October 11, 2017, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued a decision in Burt v. Rackner, Inc., No. A15-2045 (October 11, 2017), that may have effectively abrogated the long-standing rule of “employment at will” in Minnesota.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Legislature Gives Up on Bill to Preempt Cities’ Safe and Sick Leave Ordinances

In the waning hours of the 2017 legislative session, Republicans who control both houses of the Minnesota Legislature reached an agreement with Democratic Governor Mark Dayton on a budget bill that removed from a provision that would have preempted Minnesota cities’ safe and sick leave ordinances and other labor standards measures.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Bill to Preempt Local Sick and Safe Leave Ordinances Advances in Legislature

As expected, the Uniform State Labor Standards Act (H.F. No. 600)—a Minnesota bill to preempt local employment law ordinances, including the Minneapolis and St. Paul safe and sick leave ordinances—passed in the state House of Representatives on March 2, 2017, by a 76–53 margin. All Republican members of the chamber who were present supported the measure, and they were joined by two Democrats.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Legislative Update for Minnesota Employers: Paid Leave Bills Advance, Cell Phone Hands-Free Bill Introduced

Employers with employees in Minnesota—and in particular, those with employees in the cities of Minneapolis and/or St. Paul—may be interested in the status of several bills that have been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature addressing the issue of paid leaves of absence, including safe and sick leave.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Legislature Moves Forward to Preempt Municipal Safe and Sick Leave and Wage Ordinances

The battle over paid sick leave and minimum wage ordinances at the municipal level moved to the Minnesota Legislature as its 2017–2018 session kicked off at the end of January. Several bills introduced in the 2017-2018 session would either establish a statewide standard for paid leaves or preempt and prevent municipalities from passing their own ordinances on these subjects.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of MHRA Reprisal Claim Finding No Evidence of Pretext

In Sieden v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., No. 16-1065 (January 26, 2017), the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reiterated its view that an employee fails to establish pretext for an employer’s adverse employment action where the employer noted and counseled the employee for performance issues long before the alleged protected activity occurred. The court affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the employer, agreeing that the plaintiff had not demonstrated that the employer’s reason for his discharge was pretextual.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minneapolis Safe and Sick Leave Ordinance Survives Broad Injunction Threat but Is Restricted to Employers Within City Limits

A challenge brought in state court by a coalition of business groups, employers, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the Minneapolis Safe and Sick Time Ordinance (No. 2016-040) from taking effect on July 1, 2017, was partially successful. In an order issued on January 19, 2017, Hennepin County District Judge Mel I. Dickstein denied a broad injunction, finding that the city had authority to enact the ordinance, but he granted a temporary injunction preventing its application to employers that are not located within the territorial limits of the city of Minneapolis. The ruling is likely to be appealed by both parties to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and, eventually, to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Seventh Circuit Sets Groundbreaking Precedent, Reverses FRSA Retaliation Judgment

On October 31, 2016, a $1 million dollar judgment against BNSF Railway Co. evaporated when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit set groundbreaking precedent under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) and vindicated BNSF. The jury had awarded Michael Koziara, the plaintiff in the case, a total of $425,724.64, which included $125,000 in punitive damages. In addition, the court had awarded approximately $565,000 in attorneys’ fees, costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest. The Seventh Circuit reversed the judgment of the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin with instructions to dismiss the case based on errors in jury instructions.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Election Time and the Minnesota Voter Leave Law

Minnesota is one of several states that require all employers, both public sector and private sector, to grant time off with pay to employees to vote in the upcoming general election to be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Employer Had No Duty to Find New Position for Older Worker, Eighth Circuit Holds

A 63-year-old employee, who had worked in an administrative capacity for her employer for 12 years, was told that her position had been eliminated due to a customer-commissioned audit of the company’s services and recommended that ABM streamline its staff. She sued and claimed, among other things, that her employer was obliged to find her a different position with the company. Affirming summary judgment for the employer, the Eighth Circuit held that no such duty existed under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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Minnesota Court Creates “Wrongful Discharge” Damages Claim for MFLSA Violations

In an unexpected surprising broadening of employee rights under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held, on June 27, 2016, that an employee who is discharged for refusing to obey an employer’s directive that violates the act can sue for “damages normally associated with a wrongful-discharge cause of action” and not merely lost wages.

Bruce J. Douglas Minneapolis Author

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