Earlier this month, Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill (SB) 47, which formally adopted sections of the Portal-to-Portal Act (Portal Act) amendments to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), exempting employers from paying overtime under certain circumstances. SB 47 also eliminates so-called “hybrid” collective/class actions for Ohio plaintiffs by adopting the FLSA’s “opt-in” requirement for individuals seeking to join a wage and hour lawsuit on Ohio state law claims for failure to pay overtime. The law takes effect on July 6, 2022.

Portal-to-Portal Act

Although Ohio federal courts have historically applied the Portal Act to Ohio state law claims, SB 47 now formally codifies the Portal Act’s exclusion of certain activities from the definition of compensable “work” under the FLSA. Under the new law, an employer is not required to pay overtime wages to an employee for time spent:

• Walking, riding, or traveling to and from the actual place of performance of the principal activity or activities that the employee is employed to perform (i.e., normal commuting time);
• Performing activities that are preliminary or postliminary to the principal activity or activities; or
• Performing activities requiring insubstantial or insignificant periods of time beyond the employee’s scheduled working hours (i.e., de minimis time).

The exclusion applies to any of the above activities when they occur before the time on any workday that the employee commences the employee’s principal...

Read Full Story: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/ohio-enacts-changes-to-overtime-9193301/