Overview. Two new Ohio laws take effect March 21, 2017. The first pre-empts municipalities from enacting their own employee scheduling and fringe benefit laws, as well setting minimum wage rates. The second permits a concealed handgun license holder to transport and store a firearm or ammunition in certain motor vehicle parking lots. Additional details on these two laws are provided below.
Effective Date. March 21, 2017.
Details.
Municipal Minimum Wage, Scheduling and Fringe Benefits Pre-Emption.
Ohio is the latest state to enact a law prohibiting local governments from establishing a minimum wage different than the state minimum wage rate or requiring certain employee scheduling procedures or fringe benefits.
The law provides that the following items are exclusively matters for employers and employees to determine through an employer’s policy, an agreement with employees, or a collective bargaining agreement (except as provided in federal or state law):
· the hours an employee must work or be on call, including the time and location for the work;
· the amount of notification an employee must receive of work schedule assignments or changes to the schedule, including any addition or reduction of hours;
· minimizing employee schedule fluctuations;
· additional payment for reporting time when work is or becomes unavailable, including on-call or split-shift pay;
· whether an employer will provide advance notice of an employee's initial work or shift schedule, notice of new schedules, or notice of changed schedules, including whether an employer will provide employees with predictive schedules.
Weapons in the Workplace.
Ohio employers may still prohibit firearms on company property. The new law restricts the ability of an employer to prohibit firearms or ammunition in a company parking lot. The law prohibits a business entity, property owner, or employer from establishing a policy that prevents a person with a valid concealed handgun license from transporting or storing a firearm or ammunition when:
· the firearm(s) and ammunition are inside the person’s privately owned vehicle while the person is present inside the vehicle, or locked in the trunk, glove box, or other enclosed compartment or container in or on the vehicle; and
· the vehicle is permitted to be in its location.
The law also provides that a business entity, property owner, or employer will not be liable in any civil action for damages, injuries, or death resulting from a person’s actions involving a firearm or ammunition stored or transported under the law, unless the business entity, property owner, or employer intentionally procured the injurious action. Additionally, the law permits institutions of higher education to enact policies that authorize specific persons to carry concealed handguns on the premises. Such institutions are immune from civil liability for any injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by a licensee bringing a handgun onto the premises or the decision to allow certain licensees to bring handguns onto the premises. The law also permits the holder of a valid concealed handgun license to carry a concealed handgun into a child day-care center or certain types of family day-care facilities.
Call to Action.
Pre-emption. Employers should continue to ensure employees’ hours are scheduled according to state and federal law, and that minimum wage rages comply with state law.
Weapons. Employers should consider reviewing (and revising if necessary), any policies or procedures addressing weapons on company premises and in parking areas, including any posted notices, and should communicate to employees any changes to the policy. In addition, as with any such change, employers should train their supervisors.