To summarize, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers was deadlocked (2-2) over whether to certify the validity of a ballot initiative to increase the state minimum wage to $12 by 2022, mandate paid sick leave on private employers and eliminate the tipped wage by 2024. The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered the Board of Canvassers…
Read More »In Michigan, the state Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to send a proposal raising the state minimum wage to $12/hour to the state ballot in November. The ballot initiative, which had been pushed by a group called Michigan One Fair Wage, would increase the current state minimum wage of $9.25 to $12/hour by 2022 and…
Read More »While Washington grapples with Senator Rubio’s approach to paid parental leave, several states around the nation are plowing ahead with their own unique plans. One example is the state of New York, where the state legislature recently passed S.8380A, an amendment that expands the existing state paid leave law to include bereavement leave. Under the…
Read More »As more municipalities get involved in mandating what have historically fallen within the purview of the state or federal government, the notion of passing state preemptions becomes more important. On the matter of salary history bans, the state of Michigan recently took precisely that action, sending Senate bill 353 to Governor Rick Snyder for his…
Read More »The Cook County soda tax is going the way of 1917 national predecessor, repealed! The effort first got its real momentum a few weeks ago and then a budget deal was reached last week that cut the tax from the county budget. Tuesday, the County Finance Committee endorsed the repeal effort by a vote of…
Read More »Labor unions in Kentucky have filed suit formally challenging the legality of Kentucky’s new right-to-work law. In January, the Bluegrass State became the 27th state in the union to adopt right to work when the governor signed the bill into law. (There are now 28 right to work states in the country after Missouri law…
Read More »The issue of minimum wages was all over the lot this past week with the Supreme Court in Missouri ruling that the state local wage preemption bill doesn’t affect a wage bill in St. Louis, restoring the city’s minimum wage ordinance. The St. Louis ordinance was passed just hours before the state preemption bill became…
Read More »One approach to clarifying the issue and clearing up any confusion it may have caused is legislation at the individual state level that unmistakably defines who is and is not a joint employer. As we’ve advised in past issues, 3 states (Tennessee, Louisiana & Texas) had passed into law clarifying legislation that effectively exempts franchising…
Read More »As the individual state legislatures begin new sessions, efforts to address the new NLRB definition of a joint employer at the state level are front and center in Wisconsin, Michigan and Virginia. Senate Bill 422 in Wisconsin prohibits a franchisor being considered a joint employer with the franchisee unless the former agrees to the role…
Read More »US Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) filed two important bills this week aimed at protecting franchisees. The Fair Franchise Act of 2015 (H.3196) would prevent misleading or false information in the franchise agreement, prohibit mandatory arbitration provisions and would provide franchisees with the right to discuss their experiences with the franchisor and to join an independent…
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