The District of Columbia Department of Employment Security has announced via its website that the recent amendments to the District’s wage-hour law contained in the Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2015 are expected to take effect on February 26, 2015. The legislation is still pending approval by Congress. Among the amendments includes the requirement that employers provide a written statement of wage information to employees. The initial notice must contain:
- The employer’s name
- Any “doing business as” names used by the employer
- Physical address of the employer’s main office or principal place of business
- Employer’s mailing address
- Employer’s telephone number
- Employee’s rate of pay and the basis of that rate (by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission)
- Any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage: tip, meal, or lodging allowances
- The employee’s overtime rate of pay
- Exemptions from overtime pay
- Living wage
- Exemptions from the living wage
- Applicable prevailing wages
The notice must be furnished to employees both in English and in the employee’s primary language, and must be signed and dated by the employer and the employee. The employer must then retain copies of all the notices furnished to the employee for at least three years. The mayor is supposed to provide a model notice for employers to use.