Regulatory Wrap-Up: Trade issues in the spotlight

Wages

Puerto Rico: The Puerto Rico Secretary of Labor issued an opinion stating that employers are not obligated to pay employees for scheduled hours not worked due to a natural disaster, in this case Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Employers should note that employees are to be compensated under the Fair Labor Standards Act for waiting times, which in the case of the natural disasters could include employees that reported to work but could not perform their duties.

St. Paul, MN: At a recent mayoral candidate forum, a majority of candidates expressed support for a $15/hr minimum wage. Neighboring Minneapolis adopted an increase to $15/hr within the past year.

Paid Leave

Prince George’s County, MD: A proposal to mandate that county employers with more than 15 workers offer sick leave was introduced this week and is expected to be voted on in the next month. The bill would allow an employee to accrue one hour for every 30 hours worked with a cap of eight days per year. Employees that earn at least $30/month in tips are also eligible for sick leave. A similar proposal failed to pass the council in 2016 with councilmembers preferring a statewide solution at the time. But earlier this year, Governor Hogan (R) vetoed paid leave legislation which may encourage the county to act this time around.

New York City, NY: The New York City Council passed legislation to expand paid sick leave to apply to victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. Under the existing law, employees could use leave time to care for family members and this week the council expanded the definition of “family member” to include those who may not have a legal or biological relationship to the employee.

Pay Equity

California: The Governor vetoed a “wage shaming” bill that would have mandated that companies with more than 500 employees submit employee wage data broken down by gender every two years. The data would have been made available to the public through a state database presenting potential employee and public relations challenges for employers.

Illinois: The sponsor of recently vetoed legislation that would have banned salary history questions began the veto override process. The bill would have prohibited employers from asking job applicants questions regarding their salary history and prohibited them from considering past salaries as a factor in hiring decisions or salary offers. It is unclear at this time if the legislature has enough votes to override the veto.

Scheduling

New York: The Department of Consumer Affairs released implementation rules of the recently passed scheduling legislation. The department will hold a public hearing Nov. 17 to solicit input.

Labor Policy

Federal Court: The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (PA, NJ, DE, and U.S. Virgin Islands) ruled in a case against a publishing company that employees must be compensated for short breaks of 20 minutes or less. The court asserted that the employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to compensate employees for break times and failed to maintain accurate records. The ruling follows related cases concerning this area of the law and employers should ensure that policies are consistent with FLSA standards.

Labor Department: With an uphill battle to gain Democratic support in the U.S. Senate for the Save Small Business Act, business groups this week encouraged Labor Secretary Acosta to take action and rewrite areas of law related to joint employer liability. Earlier this year, Secretary Acosta withdrew an interpretative guidance memo on the issue, but has not signaled an intent to tackle the joint employer issue in a more comprehensive way.

Health Care

U.S. Senate: In response to President Trump’s suspension of the federal subsidies paid to insurance companies participating in ACA exchanges, Senators Alexander (R) and Murray (D) announced a bipartisan deal to extend the payments for two years. The deal, initially supported by President Trump, would also give providers and states more flexibility in designing ACA-approved plans. Following the President’s initial statements of support, the White House seemed to move away from the compromise and called on Congress to fully repeal the ACA. Despite the fact that there are now 24 bipartisan cosponsors of the bill, it remains unclear if leadership will allow the bill to be taken up by the full Senate.

Taxes
U.S. Senate: Last night, the U.S. Senate passed budget rules that could provide an easier path for future large-scale tax reform. The new rules will allow tax cut and tax reform legislation to proceed with a simple majority of 51 votes, instead of meeting the 60-vote threshold.

Pennsylvania:  The contentious budget bill continues to be debated but now includes House approved language that mandates online marketplace operators collect sales taxes on sales to consumers by third party merchants on the platform. The language, if passed, would make Pennsylvania the fourth state to have such a provision, joining Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington.

Packaging

Massachusetts: A joint committee hearing is scheduled Oct. 24 to review a bill that requires all retail food establishments that prepare food on premises to use biodegradable, compostable, recyclable or reusable food service ware. It is unclear at this time if there is enough support for the measure to advance.

Soda Taxes

Pennsylvania: A state committee held a hearing to review Philadelphia’s city-wide 1.5 cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages. The state may consider legislation to retroactively preempt the local tax.

Swipe Fees

U.S. Supreme Court: A long-running court case originally brought by 1