Minimum Wages Rising with New Year

With the turn of the calendar in another two weeks, many employers across the country will see their minimum wage obligations rise. In fact, no fewer than 29 individual states will be raising their mandated minimums come January 1, 2023 along with another 59 local jurisdictions. Effective New Year’s day, the state of Washington will…

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Money Issues: Election Post-Mortem

Some state ballots also had questions relating compensation and tax policy looming. In that regard, voters were apparently feeling generous. Initiative 433 on the Nebraska ballot was approved and provides for a $15 per hour minimum wage to be phased in over the next three years. The measure passed easily with 62% of voters in…

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Michigan Minimum and Tipped Wages

It seems the closer the midterm elections get, the more “business-friendly” some elected officials become. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a prime and recent example. It seems Governor Whitmer, who has long been a proponent of increasing minimum wages in the Wolverine State, is now urging caution over reinstating a $12 minimum wage. The Michigan…

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2022 Ballot Questions: Minimum Wages

With only a few weeks remaining before the critical midterm election on November 8, we again want to highlight some of the ballot questions that will be decided around the country, with this week’s focus on labor issues in general, and minimum wage hikes in particular. A ballot initiative in Nebraska would raise the state…

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Inflation Driving More Wage Hikes

With inflation continuing unbridled at record-setting levels, its impact on minimum wages across the nation is becoming clearer with each week. As we’ve advised in the past, and as recently as only two weeks ago, those states and local communities that tethered minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index. Unfortunately, there are more increases…

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Ballot Questions Focus on Wages

With just over one month remaining until the critical November mid-term elections, there are a number of ballot initiatives going before voters in different locales that warrant watching. Restaurant workers along with the city’s Mayor have again come out strongly against an initiative in Portland Maine. Known as Question D, the initiative would raise the…

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CPI Pushes Minimum Wages Higher

One unanticipated repercussion of the ongoing 40-year high level of inflation is the impact it is having on automatic minimum wage rates in a number of states.  Most recently, three states announced that new minimum wage rates for 2023 will be higher than they had previously anticipated. With minimum wage rates tied to the Consumer…

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Newsom Signs FAST Act into Law

As we suggested last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom wasted no time in signing into law the FAST Act (the Fast-Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act). After languishing in the state senate for the better part of the legislative session, the bill moved at breakneck speed over the last days of the session, passing with…

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FAST Act Passes

In a quick turn of events earlier this week, the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom initiated a major rewrite of several provisions in the FAST Act (the Fast-Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act) and submitted them to the Senate, which accepted them and passed the legislation on a vote of 21 – 12. The…

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More Minimum Wages Going Forward

We’ve got a couple of early warnings to share with you this week on the subject of minimum wages, and both relate ballot initiatives. First, in California, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles rejected a ballot campaign petition to force the question onto the 2022 ballot despite the campaign having missed a critical deadline.…

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