Tarkowsky Employment Law Bulletin: Fall 2023

Ohio Minimum Wage Increase:

Effective January 1, 2024, minimum wage in Ohio will increase by 35 cents per hour to $10.45 for non-tipped employees and $5.25 for tipped employees. This minimum wage only applies to employers with gross revenue of $385,000.00 and above. If employers gross less than $385,000, Ohio employers must only pay the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour for non-tipped employees and $2.13 per hour for tipped employees.

State ex. rel. Autozone Stores, Inc. v. Indus. Comm, 2023-Ohio-633 is the first case to interpret R.C. 4123.56(F), which superseded all prior voluntary abandonment cases.
This case found that a claimant may still be eligible for temporary total disability benefits even though the employee was previously terminated for cause, and was not working at the start of his disability.
The Court held the following: “If a claimant is unable to work, R.C. 4123.56(F) sets forth two operative questions to be eligible for TTD compensation: (1) whether he or she is unable to work as the direct result of an impairment arising from an injury or occupational disease; and (2) whether he or she is otherwise qualified to receive TTD compensation. R.C. 4123.56(F) does not impose an additional requirement on a claimant to prove he or she is unable to work solely due to an impairment arising from an injury or occupational disease. Only when an otherwise qualified claimant is not working as a direct result of reasons unrelated to the allowed injury or occupational disease is the claimant ineligible to receive TTD compensation.”

The PUMP Act, effective April 28, 2023, expands the FLSA to provide protections for breastfeeding employees.
For one year after the child’s birth, covered employees may take reasonable break time “each time such employee has need to express the milk.” An employer may not deny the employee a needed break to pump.
Additionally, covered employees must be provided with “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express milk.”
Employer violations of this statute may lead to employee complaints filed with the Wage and Hour Division and damages under the FLSA.

House Bill 447 revised R.C. 4123.01(C), by defining when at-home employee may allege a compensable work-related injury.
R.C. 4123(C)(4) states that an injury or disability sustained by an employee who performs duties in a work area that is located within the employee’s home and that is separate and distinct from the location of the employer, may be compensable if ALL of the following apply:
- (a) The employee’s injury or disability arises out of the employee’s employment.
- (b) The employee’s injury or disability was caused by a special hazard of the employee’s employment activity; and
- (c) The employee’s injury or disability is sustained in the course of an activity undertaken by the employee for the exclusive benefit of the employer.