OHIO ISSUE 2 INCREASES
MINIMUM WAGE FOR EMPLOYEES AND
RECORD KEEPING REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS

By Michael J. Bogdan
November 15, 2006

On November 7, 2006, the voters of the State of Ohio passed Ohio Statewide
Issue 2.  This issue was an Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Ohio raising the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.85 per hour effective January 1, 2007.  In addition to this increase the state minimum wage will be adjusted annually, beginning January 1, 2008, to reflect any increases or decreases in the consumer price index. 

The Amendment does include exemptions for some small businesses, family members working in a family-owned business, employees under age 16, employees who receive tips and/or employees who have disabilities.  Businesses with annual gross revenues of $250,000 or less for the preceding calendar year may pay a wage in compliance with the federal minimum wage.  The gross revenue figure will also increase each year, effective January 1, 2008, to reflect changes in the consumer price index.  Also, if an employee receives tips that, if combined with the wages paid by the employer are equal to or greater than the minimum wage rate for all hours worked, the employer may pay the employee a wage that is not less than half of the new Ohio minimum wage. 

In addition to the raise of the minimum wage, Issue 2 also requires employers to keep records of an employee’s employment and provide those records to the employee (or an employee’s personal representative) upon request.  Attorneys and family members are typical examples of personal representatives.  Employers must maintain a record of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and amount paid an employee for a period of not less than three years following the last date the employee was employed. 

Employers should take note of the fact that the Amendment does not require that payroll records must be made public.  Rather, the payroll records required to be kept by the Amendment must be provided to an employee (or his or her authorized representatives), in order to check his or her own records and make sure that wage rules are being followed.  The Amendment does not state that records can be seen by any interested third party; rather, only to the employee or his or her representative.

In an effort to clarify any confusion which may have been caused by the lobbying both for and against Ohio Issue 2, this Amendment is intended only to provide each individual employee with the opportunity to review his or her own payroll records.  Despite reports to the contrary, nothing in the Amendment provides for employer-wide access to employee information.  The record-keeping and records review provisions of the Amendment are consistently expressed in terms of each individual employee.  The Amendment does not entitle other employees to view the records of their co-workers upon request. 

In order to maintain compliance with the new constitutional amendment authorized under Ohio Issue 2, employers should take the following steps:

• Ensure that they are in compliance with the new minimum wage effective January 1, 2007 (if said wage is applicable);

• Upon hire, provide all employees the employer’s name, address, and telephone number and update this information if it should change.  This contact information is the location employees should send requests for the above-referenced records;

• Maintain records of the name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked for each day worked, and each amount paid for each employee for a period of three years following the last date an employee is employed by the employer; and

• Provide the above-mentioned employee information to an employee, or an authorized representative of the employee, upon request and at no charge.

Please remember that this is only a general summary of the new constitutional amendment.  Slight changes or alterations to your specific situation could result in a material change to this analysis.  Therefore, if you have any questions regarding this Amendment, or its applicability to your organization, please contact Attorney Michael Bogdan, or any member of the Labor and Employment Practice Group of Krugliak,
Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty Co., L.P.A. at 330-497-0700 for further analysis and discussion.