Unfortunately, the lame duck 115th Congress will expire without correcting errors in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) that directly impact small businesses across the nation. The TCJA as passed last December did not extend accelerated depreciation and although there was a whole year to correct the oversight, the rancorous partisanship in…
As the clock on the 115th Congress winds down, it’s looking more likely that senators will not confirm a number of nominees before the current congressional session ends and the new 116th Congress takes office. In the normal course of events, such delays don’t have an overly significant impact on operations, but this situation might…
Speaking of the NLRB, a bipartisan group of 83 US House members have sent a letter to the National Labor Relations Board asking the agency to roll back the Obama-era expansion of the joint employer definition. The joint employer issue has its own lengthy (and growing) history relating decisions, recusals and reversals by the National…
We advised you a couple of weeks ago that the Michigan legislature had amended the new minimum wage and paid sick leave laws they had just passed in October, and now Governor Rick Snyder has made good on his promise to sign the adjustments into law. The increase in the minimum wage and paid leave…
Speaking of wages and new requirements, the New Year arrives in just over one week, so we wanted to be sure you are aware of the increases that become effective with the turn of the calendar. A number of municipalities along with twenty states will increase the legal minimum wage on January 1, either adjusted…
We’ve been advised by our employment counsel, Morgan Brown & Joy of an apparent glitch in Massachusetts’ legislation signed into law back in the summer. The law, known as the “Grand Bargain” for reasons that elude me, included a 5-year gradual elimination of mandatory premium pay for work on Sundays and holidays in exchange for…
There’s a few new faces settling in at Dunkin’ headquarters and a few other changing their titles. This past week, Dunkin announced the promotions of Tom Manchester and Jonathan Biggs to Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Dunkin’ US and Vice President, Operations, Baskin-Robbins US & Canada, respectively. In addition, the appointment of Rick Gestring, formerly…
The annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference draws many Dunkin’ franchisees to Las Vegas each year for its education and networking opportunities. Whereas Dunkin’ franchisee Rob Branca is an active member of the MUFC – having served as the event chair a few years ago – we can offer members a deep discount on registration for the…
Just one week ago, the city of Philadelphia passed the so-called Fair Workweek legislation along with an ordinance raising the minimum wage for all city workers, contractors and subcontractors to $15/hour. Over the strong objections of business interests – read the Restaurant Association opposition letter – the city council voted 14-3 to pass the predictive…