We know, you’ve got a lot going on.  So much, in fact, that you don’t have a ton of time to worry about what’s new in the payroll world.  That’s where we come in!

Want to make sure you’re not missing important developments in the payroll scene?  Never fear: we’ve got the round-up of payroll news and updates that you need to know in order to stay in the loop.  This is Pay Matters –  the August 2017 edition.

Read on to stay informed and stay in compliance with relevant alerts and insights that matter most for your payroll.

UPCOMING WEBINAR – KEEP ON LEARNING!

Creating a new employee handbook, or evaluating your existing handbook?  Either way, you won’t want to miss our upcoming HR webinar!

Employee Handbooks

An employee handbook is a powerful tool to communicate your organization’s policies and culture. It can also serve as your first line of defense in an employment lawsuit or investigation. Join us as we discuss the most critical policies to have in your handbook, and what makes them so important. If your organization doesn’t have a handbook, or it hasn’t been reviewed in the last year, this webinar is a great place to start.

Register for this webinar over on our webinar page.

FEDERAL UPDATES

Attention Restaurants: DOL Stops Enforcing Anti-Tip Pooling Rule

On July 20, the US Department of Labor announced it will no longer enforce the current rule which bars employers who pay tipped employees a full minimum wage from requiring tip pooling.  Under the rule, employers were not allowed to require front-of-house employees, such as servers, to share tips with back-of-house workers, such as cooks and dishwashers, even if the tipped employees also earned a full minimum wage.

With this announcement, employers have the green light to require this type of pooling.

On April 20, 2017, the DOL had announced plans to rescind the regulation entirely in August 2017.

For more information, click here.

STATE UPDATES

Maine Restores Its Tip Credit

As of January 1, 2018, Maine will restore its tip credit, allowing employers to count employees’ tips toward wages, provided the tip credit does not exceed half of the state's minimum hourly wage.

Oregon's New Law May Limit Paid Sick Leave

A new Oregon law provides that employers may limit the number of paid or unpaid sick-leave hours that employees may accrue or use to 40 hours a year, starting January 1, 2018.  As a reminder, beginning January 1, 2016, all employers with 10 or more employees ( at least 6 for employers located in Portland) in Oregon were obligated to provide up to 40 hours of paid leave per year.

Employers with less than 10 employees (less than 6 for employers located in Portland) were required to provide up to 40 hours of unpaid protected sick time.

Idaho Tax Increase

New withholding tables, were released, adjusting tax brackets for inflation but keeping withholding rates the same.

The tables are in effect for 2017, but employers are not required to adjust withholding for the months before the tables were released.

Viventium will automatically update your Idaho state withholding rates.

Illinois Tax Increase

New withholding tables were released to account for the increase in the flat income tax rate to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent retroactive to July 1.

Viventium will automatically update your Illinois state withholding rates.

MINIMUM WAGE UPDATES

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis, Minnesota will increase its hourly minimum wage for large employers to $10 on January 1, 2018 and to $11.25 on July 1, 2018.  For small employers, there will be no 1/1/18 increase, and the 7/1/18 increase will be to $10.25.   Rates will continue to increase every year on July 1 until large employers reach $15 on 7/1/22 and small employers reach $15 (adjusted for inflation) on 7/1/24.

For more information, see the ordinance.

St. Louis, MO

St Louis, Missouri will decrease its $10 hourly minimum wage to revert to the state's $7.70 hourly minimum rate as of August 28, 2017, pursuant to a new law banning municipal wage and benefit requirements.