The state of Maine on January 1 becomes the first state in the nation to mandate that employees be provided with general purpose paid time off – available for the employee to use for any reason whatsoever. The law provides that employers with more than 10 employees must provide their workers with 40 hours of…
Presidents and presidential candidates come and go, with this year’s election no different than many others in our country’s history in that regard. But many of the issues Dunkin’ franchise owners care about are not solely or even principally determined in Washington, D.C. Rather, state lawmakers and their counterparts on the local level – city…
Maine lawmakers held a work session yesterday on a bill that would dramatically increase the overtime threshold in the state. LD 402 would guarantee overtime pay for all Maine workers earning less than $55,000 per year, a significant increase over the current threshold of $36,000 per year. The bill, currently pending in the Committee on…
Our friends at the Bennett Law Firm in Portland Maine reminded us that a new law banning employers from inquiring about a prospective employee’s salary history took effect this week. The prohibition, which formally took effect on September 18, exists until such time as the employer extends a job offer to the applicant that includes…
Ready for a $20 an hour minimum wage? That’s just one of the burdensome new regulations recently proposed in cities and states that threaten to change the rules and raise costs for franchise owners across Dunkin’ and other systems. Democratic lightning rod and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib is leading the charge for what would amount…
It seems timely for us again to advise of a number of new laws and changes to existing laws that will be taking effect within the next few weeks. In that vein, we advise owners with interests in the following states read on: Alabama, Maine, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. As to the changes, The Oklahoma…
Maine became the first state to mandate annual paid time off for private employees when the Governor signed the legislation back in May. The state of Nevada became the second shortly thereafter, when Governor Steve Sisolak signed the Nevada version into law two weeks thereafter. The Maine bill, which applies to businesses with more than…
New Hampshire and Maine became the latest to ban the use of non-compete clauses for low-wage workers when Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed SB 197 last week and Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) signed L.D. 733 at the end of June. The NH bill, which was one of 42 pieces Sununu signed into law at…
Effective July 1, the city of Philadelphia will join San Francisco in banning cashless stores from operating within the city. But even before the ban takes effect next week, some problems surfaced with a few state agencies not being able to accept cash at that time. Notwithstanding, the city will enforce the new law against…
Just a few weeks ago, we advised you that Maine became the first state to adopt a universal paid family leave plan allowing employees to use the benefit for any reason. This week, Nevada joined Maine in that category when it adopted its own universal paid family leave law. The Nevada program applies to employers…