Nevada Supreme Court ruling on minimum wages mixed
The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday issued a mixed ruling in the battle over the state’s constitutional minimum wage law.
The battle is over the provision that allows employers to pay workers a dollar an hour less if they offer a qualified health plan. At present that would be $7.25 an hour instead of $8.25 for businesses that don’t offer a health plan. The provision also requires that health plan not cost the employee more than 10 percent of their pay.
The opinion by Justice Michael Douglas says the constitutional language requires the health insurance plan “must be made available to the employee and any dependents of the employee.” It doesn’t, he wrote, say employees must actually enroll in the health plan for the company to qualify to pay the lower rate.
But the opinion states the constitutional language specifically says the plan can’t cost more than “the employee’s gross taxable income from the employer.” The opinion says that language specifically prohibits counting tips and gratuities as part of a worker’s wages because they don’t come from the employer.
Read more: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/government/nevada-supreme-court-ruling-on-minimum-wages-mixed/#