TODAY’S GENER AL COUNSEL SPRING 2020
Labor & Employment
2020 Brings New Workplace Requirements By Mark S. Spring
13
E
very year, United States employers must address new state and federal laws governing the workplace. Very few changes have taken place at the federal level over the last several years, as it has been rare that the President and Congress can agree when it comes to federal employment law legislation. This pattern continued in 2019, and we saw very little significant legislative developments in the employment law arena. However, several states, led by California, have enacted significant employment laws in 2019. These new statutes will likely require employers to make significant changes to their practices and/or policies to ensure compliance. The most important changes affecting
California enacted an outright, very broad ban on no rehire clauses in settlement agreements. the American workplace in 2020 are summarized below. Increase in Federal Salary Test: For the first time in almost two decades, the federal salary test for exempt professional, executive and administrative workers was raised. The minimum salary
to qualify for these exemptions was increased from $455 to $684 a week. This change makes all professional, executive and administrative employees who earn less than $35,568 annually — over one million workers nationally — eligible for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Standards Act: Several states have higher salary minimums to qualify for overtime exemption under applicable state law. Many other states are also increasing their minimums. For example, in 2019, Pennsylvania enacted a new law that gradually increases the salary test from $35,568 in 2020 to $45,500 in 2022, with automatic increases beyond 2023 based on an index. California pegs its salary test at two times the minimum
