Earlier this week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) sent its joint employer rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval – the last step before publication in the Federal Register. The proposed rule for application of the joint employer standard under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will make…
A battle is brewing in the Sunshine State over a proposal endorsed by Governor Ron DeSantis to mandate the use of E-Verify by all employers in the state. E-Verify has been aggressively opposed by a number of business groups who allege such a state mandate would be expensive to their bottom line and unconstitutional. An…
The battle continues in San Antonio over an ordinance passed by the City Council mandating paid sick leave for private employees. The ordinance, originally passed over a year ago and approved again in October 2019, was set to take effect this past weekend (December 1) but was enjoined last week by State District Court Judge…
Although it is still very much a developing body of law, employers must be especially cautious in the actions they take against employees who may be legally using marijuana for medical purposes. In the first state or federal decision in Pennsylvania, the Court of Common Pleas in Scranton allowed a lawsuit to proceed against the…
Speaking of Pennsylvania, there appears to be some good news coming out of the City of Brotherly Love lately – file under the heading: Man Bites Dog! Specifically, we refer to the recent implementation of the Business Owners Bill of Rights. The effort is positioned as a commitment by the city of Philadelphia to improve…
Last week, the Denver City Council unanimously approved a new minimum wage increase that will bump the hourly minimum in the Mile-High City in each of the next two years. The current state minimum of $11.10 is slated to rise to an even $12/hour on January 1st, but apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the…
A little over 18 months ago, in the wake of poor judgement by a manager of one of its Philadelphia stores, Starbucks buckled in the face of public backlash and changed its restroom policy of paying customers only. Subsequently, Starbucks restrooms were opened to the general public, customer or not, and predictably, the homeless and…
The 2020 Multi-Unit Franchise Conference will be held on April 14 -17, 2020 at the new Caesar’s Forum conference facility in Las Vegas. Registration is now open with a special discount available to DDIFO members. The regular registration rate for franchisees is $895 for the full conference, however the early bird rate through January 31st…
We noted a few weeks ago that the International Coffee Organization (ICO) released its annual coffee report. The ICO expects production to be lower for 2020, declining by just less than 1% at 167.4M bags. The full ICO report, which can be accessed here, points to a slowdown in the global economy as well as…
As the end of 2019 rapidly approaches, many eyes are turning to several federal regulatory agencies where a number of important decisions are expected after the Trump administration released its regulatory schedule this week. The biggest of the big issues relates the question of joint employment status and its applicability under a number of federal…