Wage & Hour Counsel : Wage & Hour Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Employment Law, Labor Relations

By Chris Kaczmarek

New Hampshire recently enacted a number of amendments to its wage and hour laws. Some of these amendments are of great importance to employers in the Granite State.

First, New Hampshire greatly expanded the types of deductions employers may make from employees’ wages. Specifically, an employer may now make such deductions “for any purpose on which the employer and employee mutually agree that does not grant financial advantage to the employer, when the employee has given his or her written authorization and deductions are duly recorded.” The new law provides, however, that such deductions may not be used to offset payments intended for purchasing items required in the performance of the employee’s job in the ordinary course of the operation of the business. In response to this change in the law, which became effective on August 6th, the New Hampshire Department of Labor (NHDOL) has published two new forms for use by employers: (1) a form by which an employee may authorize voluntary deductions; and (2) a form by which an employee authorizes the employer to recoup accidental overpayments of wages. These forms are available on the NHDOL’s website.

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New Hampshire recently amended its wage and hour law to permit employers to make deductions from employees’ wages for “legal plans and identity theft plans without financial advantage to the employer when the employee has given his or her written authorization and deductions are fully recorded.” The amendment becomes effective on August 13, 2010.

Although this amendment is modest in nature, it does clarify an issue that previously had confused many New Hampshire employers. Prior to this amendment, the New Hampshire Department of Labor had taken the position that employers could not make deductions from employees’ wages for legal services plans or identity theft plans, even though employees had voluntarily enrolled in those plans and authorized the requisite deductions, because these plans were not identified as permissible deductions under the state’s wage and hour law. This law makes clear that such deductions are now permissible.

This entry was written by Christopher Kaczmarek.

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