Regulatory Wrap-Up: Insider’s guide to retail-related legislative developments

Wages

Arizona: On a party line vote, a senate committee advanced legislation that would alter a 2016 voter-approved initiative which increased the state’s minimum wage to $12/hr and mandated employers provide paid leave. Should the new legislation pass, which is an uphill climb, it would then be placed on the Nov. ballot. If approved by the voters, it would cap the scheduled minimum wage increases at $10/hr and repeal the paid leave mandate.

Delaware: After failing to advance legislation over the past few sessions, minimum wage proponents revised their legislation this year to a more modest increase, $9.25/hr (up from the current $8.25/hr) with no cost-of-living adjustments. The bill may have a decent chance of passage in the senate but may face resistance in the house.

New Hampshire: Legislation to increase the minimum wage to $12/hr was defeated in the state senate.

Vermont: By a veto-proof majority, the full senate passed legislation that would increase the minimum wage to $15/hr by 2024. The bill now moves to the house. However, Governor Scott has publicly stated his opposition to the bill, citing the negative impact on small businesses. As a result, the legislation likely needs to pass the house by a similar veto-proof majority to become law.

Virginia: A bill allowing localities to set minimum wages higher than the state level, currently $7.25/hr, was defeated in the house and is dead for the year. The state constitution has an implied preemption, but it has yet to be tested.

West Virginia: A bill preempting local governments from enacting a variety of ordinances including those related to wages, leave benefits, and scheduling passed the senate and moves to the house. A similar bill passed the senate last year but died in the house due to a singular focus on a medical marijuana bill. Proponents are optimistic that without a similar distraction this cycle, the bill will be passed on to the Governor for signature.

Flagstaff, Ariz.: The city’s chamber of commerce was successful in getting an initiative approved for the Nov. ballot that would bring the city’s scheduled wage increase in line with the statewide level. The state's minimum wage is currently $10/hr and scheduled to increase to $12/hr in 2020, with further increases linked to cost of living adjustments. The local initiative would reverse a city law passed last year which set the city increases fifty cents ahead of the state’s.

Paid Leave

Federal: For the second year in a row, President Trump’s budget included a call for six weeks of paid family leave funded through state unemployment insurance programs. The funding mechanism is different from a recent proposal by First Daughter Ivanka Trump and Senator Marco Rubio calling for early withdrawals from social security funds. While that concept has gained some traction in Republican circles, it along with the budget proposal are not likely to be implemented in the near future.

Maryland: Legislative efforts to delay implementation of the state’s new paid leave law have failed. The law went into effect Feb. 11. While the state’s labor department stated that enforcement is unlikely until the spring, employers should comply with the new law now.

Vermont: House leaders are pressuring the senate to take up a paid leave bill that passed the lower chamber last year. The bill would create an insurance program funded by a payroll tax paid by participating employees. It would provide up to six weeks off to care for a newborn or ill family members and would apply to businesses with more than ten employees. Last year Governor Scott vowed to veto any paid leave bill that required a tax increase.

Austin, Texas: The city council passed an ordinance mandating employers provide up to eight days of paid leave to their employees. The ordinance is effective Oct. 2018 and applies to all businesses with operations in the city. Smaller businesses with 15 or fewer employees will be required to provide only six days of paid leave. State Representative Paul Workman (R-Austin) has vowed to file a statewide preemption bill when the state assembly convenes in 2019 setting up a potential overturn of the city law, but not before it goes into effect this October.

Scheduling

Hawaii: Scheduling legislation that would mandate employers provide ten days advance notice to employees of work schedules passed a senate committee. For context, the legislature has taken action on other progressive issues such as salary history and equal pay leading most to believe that the scheduling legislation has a strong chance of passage.

Philadelphia, Pa.: Labor advocates, led by the organization OnePA, held a rally in front of city hall and announced a campaign in support of a Fair Work Week law for city employees. Councilwoman Helen Gym has called for hearings on the issue but has not yet introduced legislation.

Immigration

California: The attorney general’s office released a guidance document advising how employers should handle privacy issues that result from the new state law preventing employers from voluntarily allowing federal immigration officials access to employment records. The guidance document specifies the meaning of “voluntary consent,” and outlines what specific records they are able to share with law enforcement in the absence of a warrant.

ADA Reform