Effective July 6, 2022, Ohio’s wage and hour law will more closely align with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the changes into law on April 6, 2022 as Senate Bill 47. The changes will be codified in a new Section 4111.031 of the Ohio Revised Code.

The first set of changes concern what activities are considered compensable “hours worked” for purposes of calculating overtime pay owed to non-exempt employees. Under the new Ohio law, time spent in the following activities will not count as “hours worked” for state law purposes, subject to certain exceptions set forth in the law:

(1) walking, riding or traveling to and from the workplace;

(2) “preliminary” activities (performed before an employee starts their principal work activity) and “postliminary” activities (performed after an employee ends their principal work activity); and

(3) “de minimis” activities, i.e., those requiring insubstantial or insignificant periods of time beyond an employee’s scheduled work hours.

Notably, the language in the new Ohio law does not track the FLSA precisely. For example, unlike the FLSA, the new law says that “preliminary” and “postliminary” activities do count towards overtime hours if an employee performs them either during their regular work day, during prescribed work hours or at the specific direction of the employer. Also, whereas the Ohio law defines “di minimis” time as “insubstantial or insignificant” periods of time, the U.S....

Read Full Story: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a96c199b-805c-453d-b24a-da6e28...