These are the vacation spots that symbolize an idyllic summer: Cape Cod to Mackinac Island; Ogunquit, Maine to Hilton Head. They’re as American as apple pie. But increasingly, these hot spots have relied on foreign workers to do jobs that would otherwise go unfilled. With an unemployment rate hovering around 4 percent and a scarce…
Read More »Each year as July rolls around, and with it the start of state and municipal fiscal years, we also see many minimum wage hikes taking effect. In the interest of keeping our readers informed of these changes, we believe that the following minimum wages increases take effect Sunday: Washington DC from $12.50 to $13.25; Chicago…
Read More »An increase in the Louisiana minimum wage suffered the same fate as pay equity legislation when the senate voted down a bill that would have increased the state minimum wage to $8 in 2019 and $8.50 in 2020. Louisiana is one of only 5 states that do not have a state minimum and hence, defer…
Read More »Not really, but I didn’t want this item lost in the above paragraph! Maine, which raised the state minimum wage this month to $10/hour on its way to $12 by 2020, is now considering legislation, LD1757, that would drop the 2018 wage to $9.50/hour in July. The increase was mandated after a voter initiative was…
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Ed Wolak was a teen when his mom applied for a job at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Manchester, New Hampshire. “It was a new business to us. No one knew it was a chain,” says Wolak. His mom worked part-time at the location for a few years, and encouraged her daughter to apply. “My sister…
Read More »Members of two of Maine’s larger public employee unions have voted to ratify contracts effectively implementing right to work provisions in the state for the first time. The Maine State Employees Association (MSEA) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSME) accepted two year contracts that specifically eliminates the current requirement that…
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The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines joy as “a source or cause of delight.” There is no doubt that the Joy In Childhood Foundation is just such a fountain of delight for youngsters across America and around the world who benefit from the generosity of Dunkin’ Donuts franchise owners. Formerly known as The Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins…
Read More »The drumbeat has gone on for the past several years now, and it continued this week in the state of Delaware. At the last minute, the Delaware state senate on Tuesday postponed an expected vote on legislation hiking the current state minimum wage of $8.25 to $10.25 an hour by 2020 and subsequently tie future…
Read More »Speaking of Maine and the state senate, the Maine senate voted 20-13 last week to kill a bill that would have required a union ratification vote every two years in union workplaces. The bill, LD 1553, would have mandated that union workers ratify their collective bargaining representation by secret ballot every other year. In addition,…
Read More »Their actions could not more clearly speak to their outlook on business in general, but two governors went in different directions this week over leave legislation put before them. As we speculated last week, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan made good on an earlier promise to veto a family leave bill that didn’t meet his requirements.…
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