This bill amends certain state labor laws to equalize the treatment of state employees to the treatment of private sector employees. Recent United States Supreme Court cases have ruled that the State, as an employer, can not be sued under certain federal employment laws unless the State consents to be sued. Instead of waiving immunity to allow the State to be sued under federal labor law, this bill amends state labor laws to provide remedies to state employees under state law.

The bill includes state employees in the law requiring employers to pay time-and-a-half for overtime hours worked. Currently all public employees are exempt from that requirement. As amended by this bill, the law would continue to exempt local government employees from the law. The bill also amends the remedy provision so that state employees who are not paid the appropriate overtime wage recover only the amount of unpaid wages, not liquidated damages or attorney's fees as provided for private sector employees. It also provides for a 3-year statute of limitations for violations of the minimum wage law for state employees if the violation of the law is willful. The bill applies only to overtime hours worked on or after the effective date of the Act.

The bill amends the workers' compensation law to provide that state employees who are barred from suing the State under admiralty law or certain federal laws because of sovereign immunity are not excluded from coverage under the state workers' compensation law.