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Federal Updates
- 2025 Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Increases: On January 1, 2025, the hourly minimum wage for certain existing federal contracts will increase from $17.20 to $17.75. This minimum wage rate will apply to both non-tipped and tipped workers, as the lower cash wage that contractors had been permitted to pay tipped workers was eliminated on January 1, 2024.
- Who Gets Paid on a Snow Day?: Do we have to pay employees if it snows, and the office is closed? What about if the office is open but the employee can’t get to work? It depends on whether these employees are exempt or non-exempt and, potentially, what your employee handbook’s leave policy states.
- The Particulars on OSHA Violations: How Much Notice Is Enough?: As long as an employer is put on notice that a particular condition may violate OSHA standards, additional specifics can be obtained through discovery. As a result, OSHA often issues citations with broad language rather than granular detail.
- Regulating Artificial Intelligence in Employment Decision-Making: Employment law in 2024 could aptly be summarized as the “Year of Artificial Intelligence Legislation.” Indeed, all but five states introduced new artificial intelligence (AI) legislation in 2024, with four of the five outliers simply not having 2024 legislative sessions.
- Wage and Hour Compliance: 2025 Mileage Reimbursement Rate: On December 19, the IRS published an updated mileage reimbursement rate for 2025: $0.70 per mile, a three cent increase from the 2024 rate. The rate applies to all vehicles, electric and gas alike.
- HR Checklist for U.S. Employers to Consider in 2025: While the end of a calendar quarter is a good time to review your business’s HR-related practices and procedures, the start of Q1 seems to be particularly popular.
- Approaching Deadline to Post Last Year’s Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses: Pursuant to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, unless an industry-specific exemption applies, employers with 10 or more employees must keep a Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (i.e., OSHA Form 300) and must complete an Injury and Illness Incident Report (i.e., OSHA Form 301) for each recordable injury or illness.
- USCIS Updates Filing Procedures for Form I-140: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a Federal Register notice (FRN) providing updated procedures for submitting a Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, accompanied by a permanent labor certification, application for Schedule A designation, or national interest waiver (NIW) request.
State Updates
- Arizona Minimum Wage Increased on Jan. 1: The Arizona minimum wage increased from $14.35 per hour to $14.70 per hour. The latest increase will take effect on January 1, 2025, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2025.
- Employers Must Comply With Cal/OSHA’s Wildfire Smoke Rules: Devastating and fast-moving wildfires have destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in several parts of Southern California, resulting in tragic deaths, upended lives, and disrupted workplaces.
- Cal/OSHA Covid-19 Regulation Sunsets Feb. 3: The last California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 regulation came into effect on February 3, 2023, with provisions scheduled to sunset on February 3, 2025. There have been no further regulatory developments or new regulations adopted, so all but one of the features of the regulation will no longer be in effect for California employers.
- California Attorney General Issues Two Advisories Summarizing Law Applicable to AI: Both advisories provide a helpful summary of laws potentially applicable to AI systems, and can be useful resources when building policies and procedures around the development and/or deployment of AI systems.
- FAQs Provide Details on Workforce Demographic Reporting for Massachusetts Employers: Massachusetts issued new FAQs containing details for employers on how they can meet their obligations when reporting wage data pursuant to the state’s new pay transparency law.
