Except as provided in this section, every employer
shall pay their employees a wage rate of not
less than six dollars and eighty-five cents per hour beginning
January 1, 2007. On the thirtieth day of each
September, beginning in 2007, this state minimum
wage rate shall be increased effective the first day of
the following January by the rate of inflation for the
twelve month period prior to that September according
to the consumer price index or its successor index
for all urban wage earners and clerical workers for all
items as calculated by the federal government rounded
to the nearest five cents. Employees under the age of
sixteen and employees of businesses with annual gross
receipts of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less for
the preceding calendar year shall be paid a wage rate
of not less than that established under the federal Fair
Labor Standards Act or its successor law. This gross
revenue figure shall be increased each year beginning
January 1, 2008 by the change in the consumer price
index or its successor index in the same manner as the
required annual adjustment in the minimum wage rate
set forth above rounded to the nearest one thousand
dollars. An employer may pay an employee less than,
but not less than half, the minimum wage rate required
by this section if the employer is able to demonstrate
that the employee receives tips that combined with the
wages paid by the employer are equal to or greater
than the minimum wage rate for all hours worked. The
provisions of this section shall not apply to employees
of a solely family owned and operated business who
are family members of an owner. The state may issue
licenses to employers authorizing payment of a wage
rate below that required by this section to individuals
with mental or physical disabilities that may otherwise
adversely affect their opportunity for employment.
As used in this section: “employer,” “employee,” “employ,”
“person” and “independent contractor” have the
same meanings as under the federal Fair Labor Standards
Act or its successor law, except that “employer”
shall also include the state and every political subdivision
and “employee” shall not include an individual
employed in or about the property of the employer or
individual’s residence on a casual basis. Only the exemptions
set forth in this section shall apply to this
section.
An employer shall at the time of hire provide an
employee the employer’s name, address, telephone
number, and other contact information and update
such information when it changes. An employer shall
maintain a record of the name, address, occupation,
pay rate, hours worked for each day worked and each
amount paid an employee for a period of not less than
three years following the last date the employee was
employed. Such information shall be provided without
charge to an employee or person acting on behalf of an
employee upon request. An employee, person acting
on behalf of one or more employees and/or any other
interested party may file a complaint with the state for
a violation of any provision of this section or any law
or regulation implementing its provisions. Such complaint
shall be promptly investigated and resolved by
the state. The employee’s name shall be kept confidential
unless disclosure is necessary to resolution of
a complaint and the employee consents to disclosure.
The state may on its own initiative investigate an employer’s
compliance with this section and any law or
regulation implementing its provisions. The employer
shall make available to the state any records related to
such investigation and other information required for
enforcement of this section or any law or regulation
implementing its provisions. No employer shall discharge
or in any other manner discriminate or retaliate
against an employee for exercising any right under this
section or any law or regulation implementing its provisions
or against any person for providing assistance
to an employee or information regarding the same.
An action for equitable and monetary relief may be
brought against an employer by the attorney general
and/or an employee or person acting on behalf of an
employee or all similarly situated employees in any
court of competent jurisdiction, including the common
pleas court of an employee’s county of residence, for
any violation of this section or any law or regulation
implementing its provisions within three years of the
violation or of when the violation ceased if it was of a
continuing nature, or within one year after notification
to the employee of final disposition by the state of a
complaint for the same violation, whichever is later.
There shall be no exhaustion requirement, no procedural,
pleading or burden of proof requirements beyond
those that apply generally to civil suits in order
to maintain such action and no liability for costs or
attorney’s fees on an employee except upon a finding
that such action was frivolous in accordance with
the same standards that apply generally in civil suits.
Where an employer is found by the state or a court to
have violated any provision of this section, the employer
shall within thirty days of the finding pay the
employee back wages, damages, and the employee’s
costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. Damages shall
be calculated as an additional two times the amount
of the back wages and in the case of a violation of an
anti-retaliation provision an amount set by the state or
court sufficient to compensate the employee and deter
future violations, but not less than one hundred fifty
dollars for each day that the violation continued. Payment
under this paragraph shall not be stayed pending
any appeal.
This section shall be liberally construed in favor of its
purposes. Laws may be passed to implement its provisions
and create additional remedies, increase the minimum
wage rate and extend the coverage of the section,
but in no manner restricting any provision of the
section or the power of municipalities under Article
XVIII of this constitution with respect to the same.
If any part of this section is held invalid, the remainder
of the section shall not be affected by such holding and
shall continue in full force and effect.
Structure Ohio constitution