4111.14 Implementing constitutional minimum wage authority.

OHIO STATUTES AND CODES

4111.14 Implementing constitutional minimum wage authority.

(A) Pursuant to the general assembly’s authority to establish a minimum wage under Section 34 of Article II, Ohio Constitution, this section is in implementation of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution. In implementing Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, the general assembly hereby finds that the purpose of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution is to:

(1) Ensure that Ohio employees, as defined in division (B)(1) of this section, are paid the wage rate required by Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution;

(2) Ensure that covered Ohio employers maintain certain records that are directly related to the enforcement of the wage rate requirements in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution;

(3) Ensure that Ohio employees who are paid the wage rate required by Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution may enforce their right to receive that wage rate in the manner set forth in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution; and

(4) Protect the privacy of Ohio employees’ pay and personal information specified in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution by restricting an employee’s access, and access by a person acting on behalf of that employee, to the employee’s own pay and personal information.

(B) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, the terms “employer,” “employee,” “employ,” “person,” and “independent contractor” have the same meanings as in the “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938,” 52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. 203, as amended. In construing the meaning of these terms, due consideration and great weight shall be given to the United States department of labor’s and federal courts’ interpretations of those terms under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its regulations. As used in division (B) of this section:

(1) “Employee” means individuals employed in Ohio, but does not mean individuals who are excluded from the definition of “employee” under 29 U.S.C. 203(e) or individuals who are exempted from the minimum wage requirements in 29 U.S.C. 213 and from the definition of “employee” in this chapter.

(2) “Employ” and “employee” do not include any person acting as a volunteer. In construing who is a volunteer, “volunteer” shall have the same meaning as in sections 553.101 to 553.106 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, and due consideration and great weight shall be given to the United States department of labor’s and federal courts’ interpretations of the term “volunteer” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its regulations.

(C) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, the state may issue licenses to employers authorizing payment of a wage below that required by Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution to individuals with mental or physical disabilities that may otherwise adversely affect their opportunity for employment. In issuing such licenses, the state shall abide by the rules adopted pursuant to section 4111.06 of the Revised Code.

(D)(1) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, individuals employed in or about the property of an employer or an individual’s residence on a casual basis are not included within the coverage of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution. As used in division (D) of this section:

(a) “Casual basis” means employment that is irregular or intermittent and that is not performed by an individual whose vocation is to be employed in or about the property of the employer or individual’s residence. In construing who is employed on a “casual basis,” due consideration and great weight shall be given to the United States department of labor’s and federal courts’ interpretations of the term “casual basis” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its regulations.

(b) “An individual employed in or about the property of an employer or individual’s residence” means an individual employed on a casual basis or an individual employed in or about a residence on a casual basis, respectively.

(2) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, employees of a solely family-owned and operated business who are family members of an owner are not included within the coverage of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution. As used in division (D)(2) of this section, “family member” means a parent, spouse, child, stepchild, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or other member of an owner’s immediate family.

(E) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, an employer shall at the time of hire provide an employee with the employer’s name, address, telephone number, and other contact information and update such information when it changes. As used in division (E) of this section:

(1) “Other contact information” may include, where applicable, the address of the employer’s internet site on the world wide web, the employer’s electronic mail address, fax number, or the name, address, and telephone number of the employer’s statutory agent. “Other contact information” does not include the name, address, telephone number, fax number, internet site address, or electronic mail address of any employee, shareholder, officer, director, supervisor, manager, or other individual employed by or associated with an employer.

(2) “When it changes” means that the employer shall provide its employees with the change in its name, address, telephone number, or other contact information within sixty business days after the change occurs. The employer shall provide the changed information by using any of its usual methods of communicating with its employees, including, but not limited to, listing the change on the employer’s internet site on the world wide web, internal computer network, or a bulletin board where it commonly posts employee communications or by insertion or inclusion with employees’ paychecks or pay stubs.

(F) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, an employer shall maintain a record of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid an employee for a period of not less than three years following the last date the employee was employed by that employer. As used in division (F) of this section:

(1) “Address” means an employee’s home address as maintained in the employer’s personnel file or personnel database for that employee.

(2)(a) With respect to employees who are not exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act or this chapter, “pay rate” means an employee’s base rate of pay.

(b) With respect to employees who are exempt from the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act or this chapter, “pay rate” means an employee’s annual base salary or other rate of pay by which the particular employee qualifies for that exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act or this chapter, but does not include bonuses, stock options, incentives, deferred compensation, or any other similar form of compensation.

(3) “Record” means the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid an employee in one or more documents, databases, or other paper or electronic forms of record-keeping maintained by an employer. No one particular method or form of maintaining such a record or records is required under this division. An employer is not required to create or maintain a single record containing only the employee’s name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid an employee. An employer shall maintain a record or records from which the employee or person acting on behalf of that employee could reasonably review the information requested by the employee or person.

An employer is not required to maintain the records specified in division (F)(3) of this section for any period before January 1, 2007. On and after January 1, 2007, the employer shall maintain the records required by division (F)(3) of this section for three years from the date the hours were worked by the employee and for three years after the date the employee’s employment ends.

(4)(a) Except for individuals specified in division (F)(4)(b) of this section, “hours worked for each day worked” means the total amount of time worked by an employee in whatever increments the employer uses for its payroll purposes during a day worked by the employee. An employer is not required to keep a record of the time of day an employee begins and ends work on any given day. As used in division (F)(4) of this section, “day” means a fixed period of twenty-four consecutive hours during which an employee performs work for an employer.

(b) An employer is not required to keep records of “hours worked for each day worked” for individuals for whom the employer is not required to keep those records under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its regulations or individuals who are not subject to the overtime pay requirements specified in section 4111.03 of the Revised Code.

(5) “Each amount paid an employee” means the total gross wages paid to an employee for each pay period. As used in division (F)(5) of this section, “pay period” means the period of time designated by an employer to pay an employee the employee’s gross wages in accordance with the employer’s payroll practices under section 4113.15 of the Revised Code.

(G) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, an employer must provide such information without charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee upon request. As used in division (G) of this section:

(1) “Such information” means the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid for the specific employee who has requested that specific employee’s own information and does not include the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, or each amount paid of any other employee of the employer. “Such information” does not include hours worked for each day worked by individuals for whom an employer is not required to keep that information under the Fair Labor Standards Act and its regulations or individuals who are not subject to the overtime pay requirements specified in section 4111.03 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Acting on behalf of an employee” means a person acting on behalf of an employee as any of the following:

(a) The certified or legally recognized collective bargaining representative for that employee under the applicable federal law or Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code;

(b) The employee’s attorney;

A person “acting on behalf of an employee” must be specifically authorized by an employee in order to make a request for that employee’s own name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid to that employee.

(3) “Provide” means that an employer shall provide the requested information within thirty business days after the date the employer receives the request, unless either of the following occurs:

(a) The employer and the employee or person acting on behalf of the employee agree to some alternative time period for providing the information.

(b) The thirty-day period would cause a hardship on the employer under the circumstances, in which case the employer must provide the requested information as soon as practicable.

(4) A “request” made by an employee or a person acting on behalf of an employee means a request by an employee or a person acting on behalf of an employee for the employee’s own information. The employer may require that the employee provide the employer with a written request that has been signed by the employee and notarized and that reasonably specifies the particular information being requested. The employer may require that the person acting on behalf of an employee provide the employer with a written request that has been signed by the employee whose information is being requested and notarized and that reasonably specifies the particular information being requested.

(H) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, an employee, person acting on behalf of one or more employees, and any other interested party may file a complaint with the state for a violation of any provision of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution or any law or regulation implementing its provisions. Such complaint shall be promptly investigated and resolved by the state. The employee’s name shall be kept confidential unless disclosure is necessary to resolution of a complaint and the employee consents to disclosure. As used in division (H) of this section:

(1) “Complaint” means a complaint of an alleged violation pertaining to harm suffered by the employee filing the complaint, by a person acting on behalf of one or more employees, or by an interested party.

(2) “Acting on behalf of one or more employees” has the same meaning as “acting on behalf of an employee” in division (G)(2) of this section. Each employee must provide a separate written and notarized authorization before the person acting on that employee’s or those employees’ behalf may request the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid for the particular employee.

(3) “Interested party” means a party who alleges to be injured by the alleged violation and who has standing to file a complaint under common law principles of standing.

(4) “Resolved by the state” means that the complaint has been resolved to the satisfaction of the state.

(5) “Shall be kept confidential” means that the state shall keep the name of the employee confidential as required by division (H) of this section.

(I) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, the state may on its own initiative investigate an employer’s compliance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution and any law or regulation implementing Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution. The employer shall make available to the state any records related to such investigation and other information required for enforcement of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution or any law or regulation implementing Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution. The state shall investigate an employer’s compliance with this section in accordance with the procedures described in section 4111.04 of the Revised Code. All records and information related to investigations by the state are confidential and are not a public record subject to section 149.43 of the Revised Code. This division does not prevent the state from releasing to or exchanging with other state and federal wage and hour regulatory authorities information related to investigations.

(J) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, damages shall be calculated as an additional two times the amount of the back wages and in the case of a violation of an anti-retaliation provision an amount set by the state or court sufficient to compensate the employee and deter future violations, but not less than one hundred fifty dollars for each day that the violation continued. The “not less than one hundred fifty dollar” penalty specified in division (J) of this section shall be imposed only for violations of the anti-retaliation provision in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution.

(K) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, an action for equitable and monetary relief may be brought against an employer by the attorney general and/or an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee or all similarly situated employees in any court of competent jurisdiction, including the court of common pleas of an employee’s county of residence, for any violation of Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution or any law or regulation implementing its provisions within three years of the violation or of when the violation ceased if it was of a continuing nature, or within one year after notification to the employee of final disposition by the state of a complaint for the same violation, whichever is later.

(1) As used in division (K) of this section, “notification” means the date on which the notice was sent to the employee by the state.

(2) No employee shall join as a party plaintiff in any civil action that is brought under division (K) of this section by an employee, person acting on behalf of an employee, or person acting on behalf of all similarly situated employees unless that employee first gives written consent to become such a party plaintiff and that consent is filed with the court in which the action is brought.

(3) A civil action regarding an alleged violation of this section shall be maintained only under division (K) of this section. This division does not preclude the joinder in a single civil action of an action under this division and an action under section 4111.10 of the Revised Code.

(4) Any agreement between an employee and employer to work for less than the wage rate specified in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, is no defense to an action under this section.

(L) In accordance with Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, there shall be no exhaustion requirement, no procedural, pleading, or burden of proof requirements beyond those that apply generally to civil suits in order to maintain such action and no liability for costs or attorney’s fees on an employee except upon a finding that such action was frivolous in accordance with the same standards that apply generally in civil suits. Nothing in division (L) of this section affects the right of an employer and employee to agree to submit a dispute under this section to alternative dispute resolution, including, but not limited to, arbitration, in lieu of maintaining the civil suit specified in division (K) of this section. Nothing in this division limits the state’s ability to investigate or enforce this section.

(M) An employer who provides such information specified in Section 34a of Article II, Ohio Constitution, shall be immune from any civil liability for injury, death, or loss to person or property that otherwise might be incurred or imposed as a result of providing that information to an employee or person acting on behalf of an employee in response to a request by the employee or person, and the employer shall not be subject to the provisions of Chapters 1347. and 1349. of the Revised Code to the extent that such provisions would otherwise apply. As used in division (M) of this section, “such information,” “acting on behalf of an employee,” and “request” have the same meanings as in division (G) of this section.

(N) As used in this section, “the state” means the director of commerce.

Effective Date: 04-04-2007