TITLE XXIII
LABOR

CHAPTER 279
MINIMUM WAGE LAW

General Provisions

Section 279:1

    279:1 Definitions. –
Terms used in this chapter shall be construed as follows, unless a different meaning is clearly apparent from the language or context:
I. "Commissioner," the labor commissioner.
II-IV. [Repealed.]
V. "Occupation," an industry, trade or business or branch thereof or class of work therein in which employees are gainfully employed, but shall not include domestic service in the home of the employer or labor on a farm.
VI-IX. [Repealed.]
X. "Employee" means and includes every person who may be permitted, required, or directed by any employer, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, to engage in any employment, but shall not include any person exempted from the definition of employee as stated in RSA 281-A:2, VI(b)(2), (3), or (4), or RSA 281-A:2, VII(b), or a person providing services as part of a residential placement for individuals with developmental, acquired, or emotional disabilities, or any person who meets all of the following criteria:
(a) The person possesses or has applied for a federal employer identification number or social security number, or in the alternative, has agreed in writing to carry out the responsibilities imposed on employers under this chapter.
(b) The person has control and discretion over the means and manner of performance of the work, in that the result of the work, rather than the means or manner by which the work is performed, is the primary element bargained for by the employer.
(c) The person has control over the time when the work is performed, and the time of performance is not dictated by the employer. However, this shall not prohibit the employer from reaching an agreement with the person as to completion schedule, range of work hours, and maximum number of work hours to be provided by the person, and in the case of entertainment, the time such entertainment is to be presented.
(d) The person hires and pays the person's assistants, if any, and to the extent such assistants are employees, supervises the details of the assistants' work.
(e) The person holds himself or herself out to be in business for himself or herself or is registered with the state as a business and the person has continuing or recurring business liabilities or obligations.
(f) The person is responsible for satisfactory completion of work and may be held contractually responsible for failure to complete the work.
(g) The person is not required to work exclusively for the employer.
XI. "Employer" shall include any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, trust, corporation, limited liability company, the administrator or executor of the estate of a deceased individual, or the receiver, trustee, or successor of any of the same, employing any person.
XII. "Tip" means money given to an employee by a customer, in cash or its equivalent, or transferred to the employee by the employer pursuant to directions from a credit card customer who designates a sum to be added to the bill as a tip, or added as a gratuity to a customer's bill, in recognition of service performed.
XIII. "Tip pooling" means the voluntary practice by which the tip earnings of directly tipped employees within the same job category are intermingled in a common pool and then redistributed among participating employees.
XIV. "Tip sharing" means the practice by which a directly tipped employee gives a portion of his or her tips to another worker who participated in providing service to customers.
XV. "Coercion" means the threat of or a direct action which results in an adverse effect on an employee's economic or employment status.
XVI. "Ballroom" means an indoor facility which has seating accommodations for at least 500 patrons, provides live entertainment, and is licensed by the New Hampshire liquor commission.

Source. 1933, 87:1. RL 213:1. RSA 279:1. 1967, 440:1-3. 1995, 94:1, 7, I-V. 1999, 279:4. 2007, 263:118, eff. June 29, 2007; 362:5, eff. Jan. 1, 2008. 2012, 79:1, eff. July 22, 2012; 139:4, eff. Aug. 6, 2012. 2015, 1:2, eff. April 10, 2015. 2023, 176:1, eff. Sept. 26, 2023.