Payroll usually pays the hours recorded on time clocks – but requiring employees to arrive early can create a pay obligation before they even punch in. That’s the issue in a recent wage dispute, alleging violations of the Fair Labor…
Payroll
When daylight saving time ends, employees on the clock when the time changes at 2 a.m. pick up an additional hour. Payroll teams need to make sure that hour is credited and paid this run. This year, the clocks fall…
A California company closed without warning or final paychecks just over a decade ago. Now, its owner has paid nearly $2 million after years of state wage enforcement efforts. The state's Labor Commissioner’s Office recovered the money for 136 former…
Effective Jan. 1, 2027, Montana’s minimum wage rises 35 cents to $11.20 an hour under the state’s annual cost-of-living adjustment. The state Department of Labor & Industry has updated its minimum wage and overtime poster, available in English and Spanish,…
On Oct. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Merritt v. Texas Farm Bureau. The denial leaves in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that a company owed no overtime pay to a misclassified worker because it didn’t know he…
Starting Jan. 1, 2027, New Jersey’s minimum wage for most workers rises 56 cents to $16.48 an hour. The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development sets the rate each year based on Consumer Price Index increases, as required by…
California employers that repeatedly miss required pay data reports could face a fivefold increase in maximum financial penalties under a newly signed law. On Sept. 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1237, increasing the maximum penalty for a subsequent failure…
Time to update your systems: The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced the 2027 Social Security taxable wage base. Next year’s number will increase to $192,300; that’s $7,800 more than the current $184,500. So, the intermediate projection in the 2026…
With Election Day coming Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, now’s a good time for payroll teams to review state voting leave requirements – before you start getting time-off requests. Four states show why a single companywide policy may not be enough.…
Wyoming’s unemployment insurance (UI) wage base rises to $34,900 per employee in 2027, up from $33,800 in 2026. The $1,100 increase takes effect Jan. 1 and increases the wages subject to each employer's assigned UI tax rate. The change doesn't…
California’s statewide minimum wage will rise to $17.40 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027. The increase will also raise the annual salary an employee must earn to qualify for exemption from overtime requirements to $72,384; employees must meet the duties…
A pizza delivery driver’s challenge to a 35-cent-per-mile reimbursement rate is back before a federal court in Colorado, reminding employers that mileage reimbursements can create wage-and-hour exposure. The Tenth Circuit revived the driver's complaint against a Papa John’s franchise operator,…
