State wants input on minimum wage, other wage, hour issues

People can air comments or ask questions about the new minimum wage law at a public hearing by the state labor commission on Jan. 25.

Topics include proposed changes to minimum wage, tip pooling and tip discounting, exemptions for executive and managerial employees, overtime, and payment for scheduled sleep time.

Current regulations are posted at www.laborcommissioner.com. The public can submit comments via the Web site.

"The emphasis in these workshops in on the word work, says Nevada Labor Commissioner Michael Tanchek. "Participants should be prepared to bring their ideas, work with each other, and get their solutions committed to paper."

"The emergency regulations adopted last month were just a stop-gap measure to address public concern with major issues surrounding the recent constitutional changes to minimum wage," he says.

The emergency regulations expire in April and will be replaced by temporary regulations. (Only temporary regulations may be enacted while the Legislature is in session; that ban ends June 30). Permanent regulations will be in place by November, after a public workshop and a public hearing, says Tanchek.

Employers continue to wrestle with the issues that came up when the minimum wage law was passed, says James Nelson, executive director at Nevada Association of Employers.

"We don't have a lot of guidance on how to comply," he says. Grey areas include: What's the definition of a qualified health plan? (That's a critical question because the new law sets a different minimum wage for workers who don't have health coverage.) Which minimum wage applies during the months until a new hire is eligible to enroll in a company health plan? Will minimum wage be employer- or employee-specific?

"It's important that the employer community shows up for this," says Nelson, because this is their chance to shape the law.

The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nevadan Hotel, 133 N. Virginia St., third floor.