MGEC has received several inquiries about the notices from Human Resources related to your employer (Agency) providing you with specific information about your employment. Please note that the notice and request for signature to acknowledge receipt is completely independent of current MGEC/Employer issues or considerations.
If you work for MnDOT, this notice came from the MN_DOT Note Mailer, DocuSign, and/or Connie Eystad (MnDOT HR). The new law requires that employers provide notice to employees when they are initially hired and when there are changes to their wages or compensation structure. The law also ensures that employees are aware of the required notices; it requires that employees sign the notice to ensure that the employer is compliant and requires the employer to keep a record of the employee having received the notice with the proper information and signature. The law was crafted to help ensure employee protection against employers who might otherwise not provide compensation for overtime, tips, commissions, or other wages.
The new wage theft law went into effect July 1, 2019. The notices employees are (or should be) receiving is an initial notice which includes your current wage, FLSA status, and accruals employees earn each payroll period. The requirement for employee notice and employee signature can be found in State Statute 181.032 REQUIRED STATEMENT OF EARNINGS BY EMPLOYER; NOTICE TO EMPLOYEE. Subpart e. We encourage our members to verify that the information provided in the document is correct and to sign the form acknowledging you have received the information. Whenever wages or compensation change, a new notice will be generated. Employees should expect additional notifications when their wages change; such as when our next labor contract is approved, when employees receive annual step increases or when an employee is promoted.
For our information, please let MGEC know if your agency has not provided this information to you yet.
The following information is reprinted from the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry website:
In May 2019, the Legislature passed a new Minnesota Wage Theft Prevention Act to create additional protections for workers, including adding criminal penalties for employers that commit wage theft, which occurs when employers do not pay their workers what is owed them for the work they have performed.
- Can the written notice provided by the employer be given to employees electronically? Can the employee sign the notice electronically? If so, what level of electronic signature is required? Is it the standard under Minnesota Statutes § 325L?
Yes, employers may provide the written notice to employees electronically. The written notice must be provided in English as well as the language requested by the employee, if any. An electronic signature, as defined in Minn. Stat. § 325L.02, acknowledging receipt of the written notice satisfies the employee signature requirement. If the written notice is provided to employees electronically, the employer must provide a means by which the employee is able to secure a copy of the written notice, such as a printed paper copy or a downloaded copy on a personal computer, laptop, tablet or mobile device.
15. Is emailing the notice to an employee sufficient to meet the signature requirement?
No, the new Wage Theft Prevention Act requires the written notice be signed by an employee acknowledging receipt of the written notice.
For more information:
https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/employment-practices/wage-theft-legislation-2019-and-summaries
https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/employment-practices/wage-theft-qa