PPB March 2019

independent contractor. The trend of self-employment is increasing with expectations of 42 million people working as self-employed independent contractors by 2020 as compared to 126 million regularly- employed workers by that year. That means that one-third of the workforce will be classified as independent contractors in the next year or two. Two cautions apply to independent contractors: 1 Do not misclassify true “employees” as “independent contractors.” Various federal and state agencies (including the IRS and DOL) have different standards and “tests” for independent contractors. Here are a States Rule The new year brings with it six state-related employment changes to watch for in 2019. 1 Minimum wage increases. While the federal minimum wage has remained $7.25/hour since 2009, 29 states have or will have minimum wage rates higher than that. Twenty states (Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington) and the District of Columbia will increase the minimum wage rates this year. Many cities and counties have also implemented higher minimum wage rates, so the highest rate would apply. 2 Predictive scheduling. Laws focused on employers in retail, food service and hospitality industries have recently gone into effect in Oregon and several cities and are in the legislative forecast in at least 12 other states. These predictive scheduling laws require advanced notice when posting a schedule (ranging from 48 hours to two weeks depending on state law) and restrict or ban employers from scheduling on-call shifts and adding pay incentives for these shifts. 3 Salary history. In the effort to create more gender equality for wages, three states (California, Connecticut and Hawaii) are joining six others in enacting laws preventing employers from asking about an applicant’s previous compensation history. Addressing some forms of compensation such as benefits and bonuses, as well as how to handle if an applicant offers the information varies based on specific state law. 4 Sexual harassment prevention training. Several states have recently passed laws creating or revising the requirements for sexual harassment prevention training to be conducted regularly, usually annually. Among states that recently enacted new or changed requirements are California, Delaware and New York. 5 Earned sick time. Recent laws in Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas implemented or expanded the requirement for providing sick time to employees but vary as to whether the mandated sick leave is paid or unpaid. Other states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon and Vermont) as well as some cities and counties already have a mandatory sick time law with differences as to how much time is allowed and the reasons for taking the time. 6 Legalized marijuana. While some states (Michigan, Montana and Utah) passed laws legalizing medicinal and/or recreational use, the impact extends into the workplace as it may change how employees react to a positive employment drug test. None of these laws change employers’ ability to prohibit employees from being under the influence at work as with alcohol or other prescribed drugs. 88 | MARCH 2019 | THINK