Page 182 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

three years, for any State or public contract; the loss, for up to one year, of any license, per-
mit, certificate, or other document granted to the employer by any agency department or
government entity for the right to do business in the State; or both.
Inmate labor. The State Code of 1972 concerning the employment of county-housed
State inmates or of county prisoners was amended. It is now lawful for the State, a county
within the State, or a municipality of the State to provide prisoners for public-service work
for churches according to criteria approved by the State Department of Corrections.

MISSOURI

Independent contractor. Legislation was enacted that authorized the State attorney general
(1) to investigate any alleged or suspected violations of an employer’s knowingly misclas-
sifying a worker and the employer’s failure to claim that worker and (2) to seek an injunc-
tion prohibiting the employer from engaging in such conduct. The State shall have the
burden of proving that the employer misclassified the worker. If it is found that an employer
knowingly misclassified a worker, the court may enter a judgment in favor of the State and
award penalties in the amount of $50 per day per misclassified worker, up to a maximum
of $50,000. In awarding State contracts in excess of $5,000, businesses must reaffirm their
enrollment in a Federal work authorization program, with employers working in connection
with the services contracted. Employers must be able to verify the employment eligibility of
every employee in the employer’s hire whose employment commences after the employer
enrolls in the work authorization program. General contractors and subcontractors won’t be
held liable. The legislation also deems it unlawful for the purposes of trafficking to know-
ingly transport, move, or attempt to transport, within the State, any alien who is not law-
fully present in the United States.
Minimum wage. As a result of legislation enacted in a previous year in which the State
minimum wage was indexed to inflation, the State minimum wage was increased to $7.05
per hour on January 1, 2009.
Worker privacy. In new legislation, the State mandates that employers are not allowed
to require any employee to have a personal identification microchip implanted into his or
her person for any reason. Employers who violate this mandate will be found guilty of a
class A misdemeanor. The legislation also prohibits an employer from terminating an
employee who has been activated to a national disaster by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and, as a result, has been absent from or late to work. Employees
should make a reasonable effort to notify their employers that they may be absent from or
late to work due to an emergency.

MONTANA

Minimum wage. The State minimum wage was increased to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008,
thus matching the Federal minimum wage. As a result of legislation that was enacted in a
previous year in which the State minimum wage was indexed to inflation, the State mini-
mum wage was increased again, to $6.90 per hour, on January 1, 2009.

CHAPTER 11 • Different Laws in Different States 165