Three years ago, the city of Minneapolis adopted its own local minimum wage in excess of the state minimum with a phase-in schedule bring the local wage to $15 per hour through the year 2024. Two days ago, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld that ordinance against a challenge brought by manufacturing company, Graco. The international…
Read More »Some elected officials seem hell-bent on stifling economic growth wherever they may find it, and the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota is just the most recent example. The Minneapolis city council adopted a complete ban on new drive-thru construction two weeks ago, although in reality the city had already banned new drive-thru windows in 15 of…
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 »Paid sick leave continues its spread through a host of cities and local communities across the country, although the rate at which it is being adopted may seem to have slowed somewhat. Duluth, Minnesota became the latest when it adopted paid sick leave mandates on private employers to become effective January 1, 2020. Adopted just…
Read More »The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce has formally challenged the Minneapolis $15 minimum wage ordinance in Hennepin County District Court. The business group contends the ordinance, which increases the minimum wage to $10 per hour effective January 1, is illegal in that it violates state law, which reserves the power to establish minimum wages to the…
Read More »The state level push to add, and in some cases expand existing, paid sick and family leave benefits for workers continued over the past few weeks with California expanding its already-generous family leave law and Rhode Island legislators approving up to 5 sick days leave on an annual basis. California lawmakers sent Governor Jerry Brown…
Read More »That preemption veto notwithstanding, mandatory paid leave becomes effective in the Twin Cities at the end of this month. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have paid leave mandates on their books that will take effect on July 1. Except in those communities that have opted out of the county mandates, paid sick leave also becomes…
Read More »It is the topic that just won’t go away, so there is more to report this week again on minimum wage initiatives, both pro and con. Speaking again of preemptions, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has threatened to veto legislation passed in different versions by both the House and Senate that would block cities and towns…
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Dunkin’ franchise owners can expect to find a friendlier ear in federal government now that Republicans control both Congress and the White House. Any attempts to raise the minimum wage on the federal level are arguably pretty much DOA now. Ditto for other issues, such as reclassifying managers as hourly workers, and union-friendly rulings by…
Read More »The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the arguments of wage-hike activists and ruled earlier this month that the Minneapolis City Council was entitled to keep a $15 minimum wage question off the city’s ballot. The Council voted earlier this summer not to place the question on November’s ballot after the Minneapolis City Attorney issued an opinion…
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