Minnesota’s Wage Theft Prevention Law

The new Minnesota Wage Theft law will create additional protections for workers, including adding criminal penalties for employers who commit wage theft. Most portions of the new law go into effect July 1, 2019, with the wage theft penalties going into effect August 1, 2019.

Wage Theft Prevention Notice

For hires made on or after July 1, 2019, the new law requires all employers to provide each employee with a written notice at the start of their employment. The notice must contain the following specific information:

• The employee’s rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, including whether the employee is paid by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission or other method, and the specific application of any additional rates. 
• Allowances, if any, that may be claimed for permitted meals and lodging.
• Provision of paid vacation, sick time or other paid time-off, how the paid time-off will accrue and terms for its use.
• The employee’s employment status and whether the employee is exempt from the minimum wage, overtime and other provisions of Minn. Stat., Chapter 177, and on what basis.
• A list of deductions that may be made from the employee’s pay.
• The number of days in the pay period, the regularly scheduled payday and the payday on which the employee will receive the first payment of wages earned.
• The legal name of the employer and the operating name, if different.
• The physical address of the employer’s main office or principal place of business and a mailing address, if different.
• The telephone number of the employer.
• Employers are required to keep a copy of the signed notice for each employee.

The Minnesota DLI has provided an example of notice that must be provided to an employee that can be found on the agency website.

All employers must provide the notice in English, with text that informs employees they may request the notice be provided to them in another language. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) will provide, in multiple languages, the text that must be included with the notice. If an employee requests the notice in another language, the employer must provide it. The documents are not currently available on the Minnesota DLI website, but will be provided by the agency once they have been developed. 

Employers are also required to provide employees in writing any changes to the information in the notice before the date the changes take effect.

Wage Statement Requirements

Also, effective July 1, 2019 employers are required to have the following items displayed on the check stub:

• Name of the employee.
• Total hours worked by the employee in the pay period.
• Employee’s rate or rates of pay and basis thereof, including whether the employee is paid by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission or other method (New).
• Allowances claimed for permitted meals and lodging (New).
• Total amount of gross pay earned by employee in the pay period.
• Net amount of pay after all deductions are made.
• List of deductions made from the employee’s pay.
• Date pay period ended.
• Employer’s legal and operating name.
• Employer’s telephone contact (New).
• Physical address of employer’s main office or principal place of business and a mailing address, if different (New).

How Can Employers Prepare

Employers should continue to monitor the Minnesota DLI website for the wage theft notification that must be provided to new employees after July 1, 2019.

Additionally, employers should review their current check stub configuration; for assistance please work with your account manager or email service@paylocity.com. If additional information is needed on your wage statement, this can be configured by our teams.

Thank you for choosing Paylocity as your Payroll Tax and Human Capital Management partner.  

This information is provided as a courtesy, may change and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.