HF 5226

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 04/02/2024 11:53am

A bill for an act
relating to labor; clarifying inclusion of any raise in the payment of wages;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 181.101; 609.52, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181.101, is amended to read:

181.101 WAGES; HOW OFTEN PAID.

(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), every employer must pay all wages, including
new text begin any raises, either statutory or contractual, effective during the pay period; new text end salary deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end earnings deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end
and gratuities earned by an employee at least once every 31 days and all commissions earned
by an employee at least once every three months, on a regular payday designated in advance
by the employer regardless of whether the employee requests payment at longer intervals.
Unless paid earlier, the wages earned during the first half of the first 31-day pay period
become due on the first regular payday following the first day of work. If wages or
commissions earned are not paid, the commissioner of labor and industry or the
commissioner's representative may serve a demand for payment on behalf of an employee.
In addition to other remedies under section 177.27, if payment of wages is not made within
ten days of service of the demand, the commissioner may charge and collect the wages
earned at the employee's rate or rates of pay or at the rate or rates required by law, including
any applicable statute, regulation, rule, ordinance, government resolution or policy, contract,
or other legal authority, whichever rate of pay is greater, and a penalty in the amount of the
employee's average daily earnings at the same rate or rates for each day beyond the ten-day
limit following the demand. If payment of commissions is not made within ten days of
service of the demand, the commissioner may charge and collect the commissions earned
and a penalty equal to 1/15 of the commissions earned but unpaid for each day beyond the
ten-day limit. Money collected by the commissioner must be paid to the employee concerned.
This section does not prevent an employee from prosecuting a claim for wages. This section
does not prevent a school district, other public school entity, or other school, as defined
under section 120A.22, from paying any wages earned by its employees during a school
year on regular paydays in the manner provided by an applicable contract or collective
bargaining agreement, or a personnel policy adopted by the governing board. For purposes
of this section, "employee" includes a person who performs agricultural labor as defined in
section 181.85, subdivision 2. For purposes of this section, wages are earned on the day an
employee works. This section provides a substantive right for employees to the payment of
wages, including new text begin any raises, either statutory or contractual, effective during the pay period;
new text end salary deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end earnings deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end and gratuities, as well as commissions, in addition to the right to be paid
at certain times.

(b) An employer of a volunteer firefighter, as defined in section 424A.001, subdivision
10, a member of an organized first responder squad that is formally recognized by a political
subdivision in the state, or a volunteer ambulance driver or attendant must pay all wages
earned by the volunteer firefighter, first responder, or volunteer ambulance driver or attendant
at least once every 31 days, unless the employer and the employee mutually agree upon
payment at longer intervals.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 609.52, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Definitions.

In this section:

(1) "Property" means all forms of tangible property, whether real or personal, without
limitation including documents of value, electricity, gas, water, corpses, domestic animals,
dogs, pets, fowl, and heat supplied by pipe or conduit by municipalities or public utility
companies and articles, as defined in clause (4), representing trade secrets, which articles
shall be deemed for the purposes of Extra Session Laws 1967, chapter 15 to include any
trade secret represented by the article.

(2) "Movable property" is property whose physical location can be changed, including
without limitation things growing on, affixed to, or found in land.

(3) "Value" means the retail market value at the time of the theft, or if the retail market
value cannot be ascertained, the cost of replacement of the property within a reasonable
time after the theft, or in the case of a theft or the making of a copy of an article representing
a trade secret, where the retail market value or replacement cost cannot be ascertained, any
reasonable value representing the damage to the owner which the owner has suffered by
reason of losing an advantage over those who do not know of or use the trade secret. For a
check, draft, or other order for the payment of money, "value" means the amount of money
promised or ordered to be paid under the terms of the check, draft, or other order. For a
theft committed within the meaning of subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (5), items (i)
and (ii), if the property has been restored to the owner, "value" means the value of the use
of the property or the damage which it sustained, whichever is greater, while the owner was
deprived of its possession, but not exceeding the value otherwise provided herein. For a
theft committed within the meaning of subdivision 2, clause (9), if the property has been
restored to the owner, "value" means the rental value of the property, determined at the
rental rate contracted by the defendant or, if no rental rate was contracted, the rental rate
customarily charged by the owner for use of the property, plus any damage that occurred
to the property while the owner was deprived of its possession, but not exceeding the total
retail value of the property at the time of rental. For a theft committed within the meaning
of subdivision 2, clause (19), "value" means the difference between wages legally required
to be reported or paid to an employee and the amount actually reported or paid to the
employee.

(4) "Article" means any object, material, device or substance, including any writing,
record, recording, drawing, sample specimen, prototype, model, photograph, microorganism,
blueprint or map, or any copy of any of the foregoing.

(5) "Representing" means describing, depicting, containing, constituting, reflecting or
recording.

(6) "Trade secret" means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program,
device, method, technique, or process, that:

(i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally
known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can
obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and

(ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its
secrecy.

(7) "Copy" means any facsimile, replica, photograph or other reproduction of an article,
and any note, drawing, or sketch made of or from an article while in the presence of the
article.

(8) "Property of another" includes property in which the actor is co-owner or has a lien,
pledge, bailment, or lease or other subordinate interest, property transferred by the actor in
circumstances which are known to the actor and which make the transfer fraudulent as
defined in section 513.44, property possessed pursuant to a short-term rental contract, and
property of a partnership of which the actor is a member, unless the actor and the victim
are husband and wife. It does not include property in which the actor asserts in good faith
a claim as a collection fee or commission out of property or funds recovered, or by virtue
of a lien, setoff, or counterclaim.

(9) "Services" include but are not limited to labor, professional services, transportation
services, electronic computer services, the supplying of hotel accommodations, restaurant
services, entertainment services, advertising services, telecommunication services, and the
supplying of equipment for use including rental of personal property or equipment.

(10) "Motor vehicle" means a self-propelled device for moving persons or property or
pulling implements from one place to another, whether the device is operated on land, rails,
water, or in the air.

(11) "Motor fuel" has the meaning given in section 604.15, subdivision 1.

(12) "Retailer" has the meaning given in section 604.15, subdivision 1.

(13) "Wage theft" occurs when an employer with intent to defraud:

(i) fails to pay an employee all wages deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; raises, either statutory or contractual, effective
during the pay period; new text end salary deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end gratuities deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end earnings deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end or commissions at the employee's rate
or rates of pay or at the rate or rates required by law, including any applicable statute,
regulation, rule, ordinance, government resolution or policy, contract, or other legal authority,
whichever rate of pay is greater;

(ii) directly or indirectly causes any employee to give a receipt for wages for a greater
amount than that actually paid to the employee for services rendered;

(iii) directly or indirectly demands or receives from any employee any rebate or refund
from the wages owed the employee under contract of employment with the employer; or

(iv) makes or attempts to make it appear in any manner that the wages paid to any
employee were greater than the amount actually paid to the employee.

(14) "Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business
trust, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an
employer in relation to an employee.

(15) "Employee" means any individual employed by an employer.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end