With the upcoming turn of the calendar, a host of new cities and states will mandate paid leave for employees of private businesses. The new paid sick leave law in Washington state becomes effective on January 1 and is structured as somewhat of a government-sponsored “insurance” program, funded in part by employers with monies deducted…
Read More »The current push for increasing minimum wages really began back in 2012, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing much at all. But first, let’s look at the exception that proves the rule. With democrat Gretchen Whitmer poised to take over as Michigan Governor from republican incumbent Rick Snyder, the republican state senate voted Wednesday…
Read More »As we’ve advised in the past, questions on raising the minimum wage were put to the voters in both Arkansas and Missouri this week and unfortunately, voters in both states agreed with advocates and approved the initiatives. In Arkansas, the current $8.50 minimum will increase to $9.25 in January 2019, then to $10 per hour…
Read More »On the question of minimum wage increases before the voters, there’s good news and bad news for you this week. First off, in Washington DC, the DC City Council, as expected, has taken its second and final vote officially repealing Initiative 77, passed by the voters back in June. The ballot measure not only mandated…
Read More »Media outlets have been all over the announcement this week by Amazon that the company will raise the current $11/hour minimum wage for its lowest employees across the United States to $15 an hour beginning November 1 of this year. Voters in Arkansas will likely be asked next month to consider increasing the current state…
Read More »It was a major upset and a total shock to the political establishment when back in June, New York bartender Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez handily beat 20-year Congressional incumbent Joseph Crowley for the democratic nomination for New York’s 14th Congressional District. Crowley was Chairman of the Democratic Caucus, essentially the 3rd most powerful democrat in the US…
Read More »The surprise is not that the minimum wage for state workers in North Carolina is increasing to $15 per hour, rather that the Republican legislature overrode a Democratic gubernatorial veto to make it happen. The generally-reliable red state of North Carolina seemed to flip roles recently when democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed an Omnibus Spending…
Read More »The appeal by Miami Beach of lower court rulings that blocked implementation of a separate local minimum wage has been accepted for review by the Florida Supreme Judicial Court. You may recall that Miami Beach passed an ordinance back in 2016 increasing the minimum wage within the city to $13.31 by 2021. The ordinance passed…
Read More »The Lone Star State is fighting on a couple of fronts to prevent local communities from mandating paid sick leave benefits on private employers. Last week, a state appellate court blocked an Austin ordinance that, effective October 1, would require private businesses provide paid sick leave to employees. A lower court had previously rejected the…
Read More »Not too dissimilar from its New York counterpart, a similar requirement will also take effect next month in South Carolina, of all places. The South Carolina legislature passed the Pregnancy Accommodations Act earlier this year and it was signed into law by Governor Henry McMaster on May 17. The Act amends the South Carolina Human…
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