Regulatory Wrap-Up: N.J. governor signs law preserving health insurance mandate
Wages
Pennsylvania — Gov. Tom Wolf is renewing his call for the state to raise its minimum wage from $7.25/hr citing recent increases in neighboring states. The Republican-controlled legislature has blocked previous efforts to increase the wage level and will likely remain opposed to the governor’s efforts.
Chick-fil-A — A Chick-fil-A franchisee in Sacramento announced he would raise his minimum hourly wage to $17/hr starting in June in order to retain workers and “improve their lifestyle.”
Costco — The wholesaler announced it would raise its minimum wage for store employees to at least $14/hr. The company cited the recently-passed tax reform package as one reason for the increase.
Study — A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (a respected think tank based in Cambridge, MA) found that mandated increases in wage levels often resulted in reduced spending on employee benefit programs such as healthcare.
Paid Leave
California — Legislation to increase the number of mandated paid sick days from three to five failed in committee and is dead for the year.
Michigan — Advocates submitted over 380,000 signatures for approval in support of a ballot initiative that would mandate businesses offer paid sick leave to employees. Larger employers with more than ten workers would be required to offer 72 hrs/yr of earned sick time while smaller employers would have to offer at least 40 hours. Employees would accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. The secretary of state’s office is in the process of certifying the signatures and once approved, the language would appear on the Nov. ballot. A minimum wage measure was approved for the ballot last week.
Albany County, N.Y. — The county legislature held the first public hearing on a paid leave proposal that requires employers to provide one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked with a maximum allowance of 72 hrs/yr depending on the number of employees. The proposal will now move to the legislature's Law Committee and could be amended, which would require another public hearing. The next meeting of the legislature is scheduled for June 11.
Duluth, Minn. — The city council approved a paid sick leave ordinance that had been debated for more than a year. The ordinance applies to businesses with five or more employees with operations in the city and will go into effect in Jan. 2020. Workers can accrue one hour of paid time off for every 50 hours worked up to 40 hrs/yr.
Pay Equity
California — A bill passed the senate that would require employers with more than 100 workers in the state to submit employee pay data along with race, ethnicity and gender specifications to the state on an annual basis. The bill moves to the assembly for further action. A similar bill was vetoed by Governor Brown last year as part of a larger deal with the labor community. It is unclear at this stage if this bill will advance during the remainder of the legislative session which is set to conclude business in late August.
Philadelphia — The city asked the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to consider reversing a district court judge’s recent ruling partially blocking the city’s new salary history law. The district court decision that is under appeal prevents employers from asking about past salaries but leaves in place the prohibition against employers relying on past salary information to set current salaries.
Health Care
New Jersey — The governor signed into law a bill mandating health insurance coverage for individuals, reinstating the provision within the ACA that was set to expire in 2019.
Joint Employer
NLRB — Top Senate Democrats are exerting pressure on the National Labor Relations Board to back off its efforts related to the joint employer issue. This week, Sens. Sanders, Warren and Gillibrand expressed their concern with possible ethical conflicts of board members which may use the regulatory process to overturn the Browning-Ferris decision.
Labor Policy
Las Vegas, Nev. — As of this writing, union leadership and Caesar’s hotel-casino have reached a deal that may prevent, or at least delay, a strike of hospitality workers in the city. The agreement covers a quarter of the roughly 50,000 workers who are threatening to strike if their demands are not met. Their collective bargaining agreements expired at midnight on June 1. Negotiations are ongoing with the other unions involved in the effort.
Stockton, Calif. — The city will become the first in the U.S. to experiment with a guaranteed (or universal) basic income. The trial ,which will provide $500/month to 100 local families, is intended to test the concept as a viable policy tool to combat poverty.
Boeing — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers won a disputed election at a South Carolina Boeing plant, organizing 180 flight-line workers within a plant that employs over 7,000. The election is notable because it pushes the line on what constitutes a bargaining unit. Boeing maintains the unit in question is a microunion, which is no longer an allowable bargaining unit according to an NLRB decision in December. The company will continue to press its case with the NLRB. It also demonstrates that unions can win in the Southeast and may encourage other unions to file election petitions.
Starbucks — Starbucks shutdown 8,000 stores this week to conduct anti-bias trainings. The four-hour training which included a documentary film was intended to address implicit or unconscious biases. The company earned high marks for its effort from the mainstream media.
Walmart — Walmart announced this week that it will subsidize online college tuition and cover other related costs for U.S. workers. Degrees include supply-chain management and business administration at three university partners that have a demonstrated track record in adult education. The new program is designed to sync with “Walmart Academies,” an internal program that teaches job skills and management principles.
CEO Pay
Rhode Island — A bill was held in committee for further study that would have established a surtax on publicly-traded companies. The proposed tax would apply to companies for which the CEO pay ratio relative to its median employee (as determined by the SEC pay ratio rule) was greater than or equal to 100:1. The action prevents the bill from moving forward this session.
Taxes
Arizona — The governor vetoed legislation that would have authorized the department of revenue to develop and test a program for immediate, or real time, sales tax collection in the state. The bill addressed how the department should deal with cryptocurrency payments but was amended late in the process to include the tax collection language.
Key Takeaways
Legislature Status for Week of 6/4/18
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Nation's Restaurant News website, or by clicking here, and when you download the podcast and subscribe on iTunes here.
Pennsylvania — Gov. Tom Wolf is renewing his call for the state to raise its minimum wage from $7.25/hr citing recent increases in neighboring states. The Republican-controlled legislature has blocked previous efforts to increase the wage level and will likely remain opposed to the governor’s efforts.
Chick-fil-A — A Chick-fil-A franchisee in Sacramento announced he would raise his minimum hourly wage to $17/hr starting in June in order to retain workers and “improve their lifestyle.”
Costco — The wholesaler announced it would raise its minimum wage for store employees to at least $14/hr. The company cited the recently-passed tax reform package as one reason for the increase.
Study — A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (a respected think tank based in Cambridge, MA) found that mandated increases in wage levels often resulted in reduced spending on employee benefit programs such as healthcare.
Paid Leave
California — Legislation to increase the number of mandated paid sick days from three to five failed in committee and is dead for the year.
Michigan — Advocates submitted over 380,000 signatures for approval in support of a ballot initiative that would mandate businesses offer paid sick leave to employees. Larger employers with more than ten workers would be required to offer 72 hrs/yr of earned sick time while smaller employers would have to offer at least 40 hours. Employees would accrue one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. The secretary of state’s office is in the process of certifying the signatures and once approved, the language would appear on the Nov. ballot. A minimum wage measure was approved for the ballot last week.
Albany County, N.Y. — The county legislature held the first public hearing on a paid leave proposal that requires employers to provide one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked with a maximum allowance of 72 hrs/yr depending on the number of employees. The proposal will now move to the legislature's Law Committee and could be amended, which would require another public hearing. The next meeting of the legislature is scheduled for June 11.
Duluth, Minn. — The city council approved a paid sick leave ordinance that had been debated for more than a year. The ordinance applies to businesses with five or more employees with operations in the city and will go into effect in Jan. 2020. Workers can accrue one hour of paid time off for every 50 hours worked up to 40 hrs/yr.
Pay Equity
California — A bill passed the senate that would require employers with more than 100 workers in the state to submit employee pay data along with race, ethnicity and gender specifications to the state on an annual basis. The bill moves to the assembly for further action. A similar bill was vetoed by Governor Brown last year as part of a larger deal with the labor community. It is unclear at this stage if this bill will advance during the remainder of the legislative session which is set to conclude business in late August.
Philadelphia — The city asked the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to consider reversing a district court judge’s recent ruling partially blocking the city’s new salary history law. The district court decision that is under appeal prevents employers from asking about past salaries but leaves in place the prohibition against employers relying on past salary information to set current salaries.
Health Care
New Jersey — The governor signed into law a bill mandating health insurance coverage for individuals, reinstating the provision within the ACA that was set to expire in 2019.
Joint Employer
NLRB — Top Senate Democrats are exerting pressure on the National Labor Relations Board to back off its efforts related to the joint employer issue. This week, Sens. Sanders, Warren and Gillibrand expressed their concern with possible ethical conflicts of board members which may use the regulatory process to overturn the Browning-Ferris decision.
Labor Policy
Las Vegas, Nev. — As of this writing, union leadership and Caesar’s hotel-casino have reached a deal that may prevent, or at least delay, a strike of hospitality workers in the city. The agreement covers a quarter of the roughly 50,000 workers who are threatening to strike if their demands are not met. Their collective bargaining agreements expired at midnight on June 1. Negotiations are ongoing with the other unions involved in the effort.
Stockton, Calif. — The city will become the first in the U.S. to experiment with a guaranteed (or universal) basic income. The trial ,which will provide $500/month to 100 local families, is intended to test the concept as a viable policy tool to combat poverty.
Boeing — The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers won a disputed election at a South Carolina Boeing plant, organizing 180 flight-line workers within a plant that employs over 7,000. The election is notable because it pushes the line on what constitutes a bargaining unit. Boeing maintains the unit in question is a microunion, which is no longer an allowable bargaining unit according to an NLRB decision in December. The company will continue to press its case with the NLRB. It also demonstrates that unions can win in the Southeast and may encourage other unions to file election petitions.
Starbucks — Starbucks shutdown 8,000 stores this week to conduct anti-bias trainings. The four-hour training which included a documentary film was intended to address implicit or unconscious biases. The company earned high marks for its effort from the mainstream media.
Walmart — Walmart announced this week that it will subsidize online college tuition and cover other related costs for U.S. workers. Degrees include supply-chain management and business administration at three university partners that have a demonstrated track record in adult education. The new program is designed to sync with “Walmart Academies,” an internal program that teaches job skills and management principles.
CEO Pay
Rhode Island — A bill was held in committee for further study that would have established a surtax on publicly-traded companies. The proposed tax would apply to companies for which the CEO pay ratio relative to its median employee (as determined by the SEC pay ratio rule) was greater than or equal to 100:1. The action prevents the bill from moving forward this session.
Taxes
Arizona — The governor vetoed legislation that would have authorized the department of revenue to develop and test a program for immediate, or real time, sales tax collection in the state. The bill addressed how the department should deal with cryptocurrency payments but was amended late in the process to include the tax collection language.
Key Takeaways
- The working paper published this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) raises serious red flags related to the potential negative impacts of minimum wage increases. Like the University of Washington study that found Seattle’s steep increase resulted in a reduction of hours for workers, the NBER study demonstrates that workers may experience reductions in benefits, specifically healthcare, as a result of mandated increases. Both studies suggest that companies may not be able to simply absorb the cost or pass it along to consumers as some proponents suggest but rather worker’s hours, benefits or potentially jobs will suffer as a result.
- The announcement of Walmart’s college tuition program is a new marker in the competition to attract and retain quality workers. Record low unemployment and scarcity of workers are forcing companies to compete on factors other than wages alone. Companies that are enhancing their benefit programs, investing in worker training and development, and creating a desirable work environment are monopolizing the best available talent, leaving the rest for their competitors.
Legislature Status for Week of 6/4/18
- The United States Senate is in session this week
- The United States House is in session this week
- Nine state legislatures are meeting actively this week: California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Nation's Restaurant News website, or by clicking here, and when you download the podcast and subscribe on iTunes here.
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