Through the Office of Management & Budget, the Obama Administration indicates that two proposed rules of interest to the QSR industry will not be finalized this year as originally expected. The Department of Labor’s so-called Persuader Rule, which was to be finalized in December, 2015 has now been delayed until March of next year. The…
Minimum wage initiatives, another issue that was initially surfaced by President Obama, continue to make headlines in states and cities across the country. Just this past week, the Urban County Council for Lexington, Kentucky voted to raise the minimum wage in the city from the current federal floor of $7.25/hour to a minimum of $10.10,…
The first steps in the National Restaurant Association challenge to the New York $15 fast food minimum wage were taken last week as oral arguments were presented before the Industrial Board of Appeals. The NRA is challenging the $15 fast food minimum on several grounds, notably that the decision to apply the increase to “a…
Maybe it’s the next phase of the so-called Fight for $15, but airport workers around the country undertook a 24-hour fast this week to bring attention to their working conditions and allegedly low wages. Not surprisingly, SEIU is integrally involved in the protests. In Massachusetts, the union’s VP explained why, saying that “decades-in-the-making dysfunctional contracting…
That same national union that is leading the so-called Fight for $15 as well as airport hunger strikes and a host of other initiatives to try and grow their membership made political news a few weeks ago with a presidential endorsement to much fanfare. The national union’s Executive Board last week announced its endorsement of…
We note and congratulate Dunkin’ President of Global Marketing and Innovation John Costello on his recent election to the Global Board of Directors for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The MMA is a global non –profit trade association representing the mobile marketing ecosystem. They boast 800 member companies from nearly 50 countries around the world. …
Tim Horton’s, the Canadian coffee and donut franchise, has rather unceremoniously vacated parts of the state of Maine and areas of upstate New York. The brand closed 6 stores in Portland without any advance notice and another sixteen in the Syracuse area of New York. Tim’s has long tried to expand their reach into the…
As has been expected for some time, a bill seeking to reform the National Labor Relations Board was filed this week in the US House by Representative Joseph Wilson (SC – 2nd District). Citing a number of the regulatory excesses perpetrated by the NLRB and referring to the organization as the “President’s Labor Bully”, Wilson…
Perhaps stealing an idea from the QSR industry, a limited time offer has been put forth by the SHOP Marketplace (Small Business Health Options Program) regarding minimum participation rates. Beginning earlier this week and continuing until December 15, small businesses can purchase health insurance coverage in the SHOP Marketplace without meeting a minimum participation rate. …
Congressional appetite to repeal the so-called Cadillac Tax provisions of Obama Care appears to be growing as we get closer to the 2018 effective date for that tax provision. The “Cadillac Tax” is a non-refundable 40% excise tax on employee premiums that exceed $10,200 and $27,500 for individual and family coverage respectively. In a letter…
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