One question might be where will it be enacted first, as the Portland City Council and the Maine state legislature are both considering adoption of paid sick leave mandates for private businesses. The statewide legislation, LD369 filed by Senator Rebecca Millett, is similar to legislation she has filed in the past. It would apply to…
Read More »Although many in the business community saw the “Grand Bargain” (the name given to a legislative/gubernatorial deal to raise wages and mandate paid leave in Massachusetts) as troublesome, but palatable, it appears that the regulations to implement the law could be ‘the straw that breaks the camel’s back’! At the first of seven planned public…
Read More »Not stopping at increases to state minimum wages, a number of states appear poised to push for passing mandatory paid sick leave. Again in Virginia, paid family leave bills have been filed in both the Senate and the House of Delegates, despite both branches having slim republican majorities. As filed, both proposals would create a…
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Over the last decade, our firm has represented hundreds of Dunkin’ franchisees who have expanded their networks through the purchase of existing restaurants. The vast majority of these acquisitions are transacted as purchases of tangible (e.g. furniture, fixtures, and equipment) and intangible (e.g. telephone numbers) assets, as opposed to the purchase of the stock or…
Read More »New York’s Junior US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was the latest to throw her hat in the 2020 presidential test pool this week with her announcement that she had formed a presidential exploratory committee. More importantly to small business interests, in her late night TV show announcement, she highlighted paid family leave among a host of…
Read More »At the New York state level, the news was more favorable of late as Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill expanding the state paid leave mandates. The expansion, which was passed by the legislature back in the summer, would have expanded the availability of employee paid family leave to include bereavement for family members. Back…
Read More »Similar to the experience we’ve seen with minimum wages over the past few years, the proliferation of so-called workplace fairness issues such as paid sick leave, predictive scheduling, pay equity and the like has been unrelenting and gaining steam recently. We would expect to see more of these issues surfacing in more locations in 2019.…
Read More »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 »Advocates in the state of Maine are proving that ol’ adage now that Question 1 has been rejected by the voters. Just days after the initiative to add a 3.8% surcharge to incomes over the Social Security limit ($128,400/year) was rejected by voters in the election last week, the Maine People’s Alliance shifted their focus…
Read More »Back at the local level, a handful of communities within Cook County in Illinois have reversed earlier decisions to opt out of the Cook County paid sick leave mandate and are now opting in. Northbrook became the latest when it reconsidered and opted in to mandate that its employers provide workers up to 40 hours…
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