Category: Employment and Labor

By Attorney Lei Jiang, Lei Jiang LLC.

If you run a restaurant in Ohio, three wage numbers decide most disputes: $11.00, $5.50, and time-and-a-half. Get any of them wrong and you can owe back pay plus more.

Here are the 2026 Ohio figures. The standard minimum wage is $11.00 per hour. For tipped employees, the employer may pay $5.50 per hour in direct wages — but only if the employee’s tips bring total pay to at least $11.00 per hour. If tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference. And overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Note that Ohio counts overtime by the week, not by the day: a 12-hour shift alone does not trigger overtime unless the week’s total passes 40.

Two habits prevent most claims. First, keep daily records: each employee’s hours worked, tips received, and wages paid. When a dispute arises, the records usually decide it — and missing records hurt the employer, not the employee. Second, never pay a flat daily rate or a salary that quietly drops below the minimum once hours are counted. A “salary” that works out to less than $11.00 per hour, or tips that don’t reach the threshold, is a violation even if the employee agreed to it.

One more trap: tips belong to the employees. An owner or manager may not take a share of the tip pool, even in a slow week. And recheck the rates each January — Ohio adjusts its minimum wage annually, so this year’s numbers will eventually be out of date.

The exposure grows with size. A wage mistake repeated across shifts, locations, or job classifications can become a group claim covering many employees at once — and back pay, plus more, multiplies with every worker affected. Operators with multiple locations should audit payroll centrally, not store by store.

The practical takeaway: check your payroll against $11.00, $5.50 plus tip top-up, and 1.5 times over 40 hours — and keep daily time and tip records to prove it.

Questions? Contact us at info@leijianglaw.com or (440) 835-2271, or book a free 15-minute call: https://calendly.com/leijianglaw-info/15-minute-consultation

This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

By Attorney Lei Jiang, Lei Jiang LLC.

The FTC’s 2024 nationwide noncompete ban was struck down, so Ohio law governs again. That means an Ohio noncompete can still be enforced — but only if it is reasonable.

In Ohio, a noncompete is judged under the test from Raimonde v. Van Vlerah (Ohio Supreme Court, 1975): it must go no further than needed to protect the employer, must not impose an unfair hardship on the employee, and must not harm the public.

What makes an Ohio noncompete enforceable?

First, the employer must have a real interest to protect — for example, customer relationships, confidential information, or trade secrets. Simply wanting to keep a former employee out of the field is not enough. Second, the limits must fit that interest: a reasonable length of time, a reasonable area, and a job scope tied to the work the employee actually did. A statewide, multi-year ban on any job in the industry is far harder to defend than a limited ban on nearby customers in the same kind of role. Third, the restriction must not leave the employee unable to earn a living — for example, by blocking the only work the employee is trained to do.

Before you sign one, check four things: how long it lasts, where it applies, what jobs it bars, and what the employer claims to protect. Ask what happens if you leave, and get any promise about a narrower limit in writing. Do not rely on a verbal assurance that “we never enforce these.”

If you already signed one and want to leave, do not assume it is unenforceable, and do not breach it first and hope for the best. Get the agreement reviewed before you accept a new job, talk to customers, or use information from your old job. A review can show which limits are likely to hold, what a new role must avoid, and whether a written release is worth negotiating.

Practical takeaway: the narrower the restriction — and the clearer the business interest behind it — the more likely an Ohio court is to enforce it.

Questions? Contact us at info@leijianglaw.com or (440) 835-2271, or book a free 15-minute call: https://calendly.com/leijianglaw-info/15-minute-consultation

This article is general information, not legal advice about a specific agreement.

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Source: Raimonde v. Van Vlerah, 42 Ohio St.2d 21 (1975).

By Attorney Lei Jiang, Lei Jiang LLC.

Date: October 22, 2026

In Ohio, non-exempt employees must be paid 1.5× their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Daily hours don’t trigger overtime — only the weekly total counts. (ORC 4111.03; FLSA.)

• Exempt salary threshold (2026): $684/week ($35,568/year) for executive, administrative, and professional exemptions; $107,432/year for highly compensated employees. Salary alone doesn’t create an exemption — the duties test must also be met.
• What changed: The 2024 rule that would have raised the threshold to $844/week (then $1,128/week) was vacated by a federal court in November 2024. In May 2026 the Department of Labor formally restored the 2019 levels.
• Who is exempt: executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and certain other categories — only if they meet both the salary and duties tests. Employees working in agriculture are not covered at all (ORC 4111.03).
• Small-business note: businesses with less than $150,000 in annual gross sales are not “employers” under Ohio’s overtime law (ORC 4111.03(D)(2)(a)) — though federal FLSA may still apply.

Misclassification is where the exposure grows: treating a group of workers as exempt when their duties do not meet the test can produce back-pay claims across an entire workforce at once. Employers with many locations or large hourly workforces should review exemption classifications centrally before a dispute forces the issue.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Questions? Contact Lei Jiang Law Firm at (440) 835-2271.

By Attorney Lei Jiang, Lei Jiang LLC.

Date: October 19, 2026

As of January 1, 2026, Ohio’s minimum wage is $11.00 per hour. Ohio adjusts the wage every January 1 by the Consumer Price Index. (2025: $10.70.)

• Standard: $11.00/hour — employers with more than $405,000 in annual gross receipts.
• Tipped: $5.50/hour + tips (must total at least $11.00/hour).
• Small employers ($405,000 or less in gross receipts) and workers under 16: $7.25/hour.

Legal basis: Ohio Constitution Art. II, Sec. 34a; ORC Chapter 4111 (Minimum Wage Standards Act).

For employers with more than one location, the stakes multiply: a rate or classification error repeated across sites can become a group claim covering many employees. Multi-site employers should audit pay centrally rather than location by location.

Questions? Contact Lei Jiang Law Firm at (440) 835-2271.