Regulatory Wrap-Up: A $15/hour wage increase approved for 2018 ballot in Massachusetts

9/25/2017

Wages


Massachusetts: A joint committee held a hearing on a bill that would increase the minimum wage by $1/hr. each year until it reaches $15/hr. in 2021. The bill would also phase out the tip credit over an eight year period. The legislature may feel more pressure to act now that a $15/hr. wage increase has been approved for the 2018 ballot.

St. Paul, MN: Local advocates are seeking to follow Minneapolis and are ramping up efforts in support of a local $15/hr. minimum wage proposal. The bill has yet to come before the seven member city council. Unlike their close neighbor Minneapolis, St. Paul officials have yet to voice public support for a wage increase.




Paid Leave


Rhode Island: A paid leave bill passed both the house and senate. It mandates that companies with more than 18 employees provide three days of sick leave starting next year, four days in 2019 and five days from 2020 onward. One hour of paid leave is accrued for every 35 hours worked under the new requirement. The governor is likely to sign the bill into law.

Minneapolis, MN: The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling in favor of the city’s paid sick leave mandate. The business coalition in an effort to overturn the city law will seek an appeal to the state supreme court. Other cities, such as Duluth that are considering similar ordinances, are watching the proceedings closely.




Wage Theft


TGI Friday’s: TGI Friday’s settled a wage theft class action lawsuit for $19 million this week. The settlement, which covers 28,000 restaurant workers, is a record amount for resolution of a wage theft lawsuit in the restaurant industry.




Pay Equity


California: A bill that prohibits employers from asking applicants about their salary history and also requires employers to provide upon request a pay scale related to specific positions passed the legislature and awaits the governor’s signature.




Labor Policy


CEO Pay: Recent reports indicate that senior officials within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed that the SEC CEO pay ratio rule will not be rescinded and that publicly traded companies should plan to comply with the existing rule. These reports conflict with comments earlier this year from the SEC Chairman who expressed opposition to the rule. The rule, passed in 2015 with an effective date of Jan. 2018, requires public companies to compare the compensation of their chief executive officer to the median compensation of their other employees.

E-Verify: A federal proposal to mandate that employers use the E-Verify system to confirm the legal status of new employees was introduced this week. In the past several years business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce who once opposed the federal mandate, now support a law that would preempt the various iterations of state E-Verify laws and provide a safe harbor provision for employers. Despite that support, it is unclear if the measure will attract enough votes to become law.

EEOC: A U.S. Senate committee held a hearing on two of President Trump’s nominees for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency that enforces workplace discrimination laws. Former corporate general counsel, Janet Dhillon has been nominated to chair the committee and Iraqi war veteran Lt. Col Daniel Gade has been nominated for one of the open commission seats.

Wisconsin: The state appeals court agreed with a federal appeals court decision which upheld the state’s right-to-work law.

West Virginia: The state supreme court overturned a lower court’s injunction of the state's 2016 right-to-work law. In addition to other issues, the higher court cited the delay in a final decision from the lower court judge. Opponents vowed to continue the case and exhaust all legal options to overturn the law.

Washington D.C.: As the city council reconvenes after their summer break, Chair Phil Mendelson, who sets the council’s agenda, proposed a moratorium on “bills that would negatively affect businesses” through the end of 2018. In recent years the city passed a $15/hr. minimum wage, a paid sick leave requirement, a parental leave law and has considered a scheduling mandate modeled after San Francisco’s law.




NLRB


NLRB: President Trump announced the nomination of management-side attorney Peter Robb to serve as the next general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board. The NLRB General Counsel determines which cases come before the board for a vote. Meanwhile, the senate is expected to vote next week to confirm Bill Emanuel who President Trump nominated for the fifth open seat on the board. Once Emmanuel is confirmed, as expected, Republicans will enjoy a 3-2 majority vote on the board for the first time in a decade. It is expected that several labor-friendly decisions such as joint employer liability and micro union organization will be rolled back.




Health Care


U.S. Senate: Several Republican senators have reinvigorated an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The proposal, authored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), seeks to replace much of Obamacare with block grants for states. Further details remain undisclosed and a cost analysis has yet to be released. A Sept. 30 deadline for the U.S. Senate to pass a repeal with a simple majority vote is increasing the pressure for action; however, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) announced his opposition to the bill late last week, joining a number of other Republicans a
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