Regulatory Wrap-Up: Weekly recap of retail-related legislative developments-March 11
Wages
Federal - The Labor Department officially released its new proposed overtime rule which would increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility to $35,308/yr with no automatic future adjustments. The current threshold is $23,660/yr following a failed Obama-era effort to raise it to $47,476/yr.
Federal - The House Committee on Education and Labor advanced a bill that would establish a federal minimum wage of $15/hr. The bill now goes to the house floor.
Arkansas - A bill to roll back the 2018 voter-approved minimum wage increase had stalled but was amended to establish a lower wage for youth workers, felons and people with disabilities. It remains unclear if there’s an appetite among legislative leadership to further consider the legislation.
Maryland - Multiple minimum wage bills continue to make their way through the legislative process. A senate committee advanced a bill that would require business with at least 15 employees to pay $11/hr with incremental increases to $15/hr by 2025. Smaller businesses would have a more gradual phase-in period. A different bill that passed the house last week establishes a $15/hr minimum by 2025 regardless of the size of a business and preserves the tip credit. The committee-passed bill now moves to the full senate but would need to be reconciled with the house version in order to reach the governor’s desk.
Missouri - Democratic senators successfully held off an effort by some Republicans to move legislation to water down a voter-passed initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12/hr by 2023.
New Hampshire - A senate committee heard testimony in support of a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage to $12/hr by 2022. The state’s current minimum wage matches the federal level of $7.25/hr.
New Mexico - A senate committee advanced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $11/hr by 2022, ultimately increasing the server wage to $3.00/hr. The bill now moves to the senate floor and, if successful, would have to be reconciled with the house version before moving to the governor’s desk.
Oklahoma - As expected, the Republican-controlled senate killed several legislative attempts to increase the state’s minimum wage level.
Minneapolis, MN - A Minnesota state appeals court upheld the legality of a Minneapolis ordinance that raises the minimum wage to $15/hr, saying that the state’s wage law doesn’t block the city’s right to set its own salary floor.
Target - The national retail chain announced it was raising the entry-level wage for employees to $15/hr nationwide by 2020.
Wage Theft
PAID Program - After criticizing the Labor Department’s Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID Program) for some time, the New York Attorney General took official action suing the Trump Administration for access to records related to the program. She and other state attorneys general view the compliance-focused federal self-reporting program as a "non-enforcement initiative" that gives amnesty to violators. She stated that she will take state-level enforcement actions against program participants.
Paid Leave
Colorado - Democrats introduced legislation to mandate 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn, receive treatment for a major illness, leave a relationship marred by domestic abuse or help a family member who is sick or dying. Similar to the unemployment insurance program, the state would administer the program and employees and employers would contribute equally toward it. All full - and part-time workers and businesses of any size would have to participate.
New Hampshire - The house labor committee advanced a senate-approved bill mandating 12 weeks of paid leave for employees for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child. The provisions also allow for the care of certain relatives with serious illness and would be funded by a 0.5 percent tax on employee wages. If it passes the full house, the governor has indicated he will veto it.
Oregon - A hearing will be held March 27 on a bill mandating 12 weeks of paid leave per year for the birth of a child or the caring of a family member suffering from a serious health condition. The bill would have employers and employees split the cost 50-50 to pay for the program, with employee contributions maxed out at 0.5 percent of their wages.
Texas - A senate committee advanced a bill that would preempt localities from passing their own paid leave mandates as well as nullify existing ones. The bill is in response to cities like Austin and San Antonio that passed their own measures last year.
Scheduling
New York - The state labor department announced that it will abandon the “fair workweek” regulations it has been workshopping over the past two years. The regulations were expected to require employers to post schedules with 14-day advanced notice and require penalty pay if changes were made within that period. Although the regulations have been abandoned, a legislative path still remains as Democrats now control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office, which was not the case for the last two years.
Labor Policy
EEOC - A defunct Obama-era Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requirement that employers provide detailed pay data broken down by gender, race and ethnicity was revived this week by the courts. Under that requirement, companies with more than 100 employees must report detailed demographic data corresponding with “pay bans” on the annual EEO-1 Form. The additional disclosures were intended to
Federal - The Labor Department officially released its new proposed overtime rule which would increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility to $35,308/yr with no automatic future adjustments. The current threshold is $23,660/yr following a failed Obama-era effort to raise it to $47,476/yr.
Federal - The House Committee on Education and Labor advanced a bill that would establish a federal minimum wage of $15/hr. The bill now goes to the house floor.
Arkansas - A bill to roll back the 2018 voter-approved minimum wage increase had stalled but was amended to establish a lower wage for youth workers, felons and people with disabilities. It remains unclear if there’s an appetite among legislative leadership to further consider the legislation.
Maryland - Multiple minimum wage bills continue to make their way through the legislative process. A senate committee advanced a bill that would require business with at least 15 employees to pay $11/hr with incremental increases to $15/hr by 2025. Smaller businesses would have a more gradual phase-in period. A different bill that passed the house last week establishes a $15/hr minimum by 2025 regardless of the size of a business and preserves the tip credit. The committee-passed bill now moves to the full senate but would need to be reconciled with the house version in order to reach the governor’s desk.
Missouri - Democratic senators successfully held off an effort by some Republicans to move legislation to water down a voter-passed initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12/hr by 2023.
New Hampshire - A senate committee heard testimony in support of a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage to $12/hr by 2022. The state’s current minimum wage matches the federal level of $7.25/hr.
New Mexico - A senate committee advanced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $11/hr by 2022, ultimately increasing the server wage to $3.00/hr. The bill now moves to the senate floor and, if successful, would have to be reconciled with the house version before moving to the governor’s desk.
Oklahoma - As expected, the Republican-controlled senate killed several legislative attempts to increase the state’s minimum wage level.
Minneapolis, MN - A Minnesota state appeals court upheld the legality of a Minneapolis ordinance that raises the minimum wage to $15/hr, saying that the state’s wage law doesn’t block the city’s right to set its own salary floor.
Target - The national retail chain announced it was raising the entry-level wage for employees to $15/hr nationwide by 2020.
Wage Theft
PAID Program - After criticizing the Labor Department’s Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID Program) for some time, the New York Attorney General took official action suing the Trump Administration for access to records related to the program. She and other state attorneys general view the compliance-focused federal self-reporting program as a "non-enforcement initiative" that gives amnesty to violators. She stated that she will take state-level enforcement actions against program participants.
Paid Leave
Colorado - Democrats introduced legislation to mandate 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn, receive treatment for a major illness, leave a relationship marred by domestic abuse or help a family member who is sick or dying. Similar to the unemployment insurance program, the state would administer the program and employees and employers would contribute equally toward it. All full - and part-time workers and businesses of any size would have to participate.
New Hampshire - The house labor committee advanced a senate-approved bill mandating 12 weeks of paid leave for employees for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child. The provisions also allow for the care of certain relatives with serious illness and would be funded by a 0.5 percent tax on employee wages. If it passes the full house, the governor has indicated he will veto it.
Oregon - A hearing will be held March 27 on a bill mandating 12 weeks of paid leave per year for the birth of a child or the caring of a family member suffering from a serious health condition. The bill would have employers and employees split the cost 50-50 to pay for the program, with employee contributions maxed out at 0.5 percent of their wages.
Texas - A senate committee advanced a bill that would preempt localities from passing their own paid leave mandates as well as nullify existing ones. The bill is in response to cities like Austin and San Antonio that passed their own measures last year.
Scheduling
New York - The state labor department announced that it will abandon the “fair workweek” regulations it has been workshopping over the past two years. The regulations were expected to require employers to post schedules with 14-day advanced notice and require penalty pay if changes were made within that period. Although the regulations have been abandoned, a legislative path still remains as Democrats now control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office, which was not the case for the last two years.
Labor Policy
EEOC - A defunct Obama-era Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requirement that employers provide detailed pay data broken down by gender, race and ethnicity was revived this week by the courts. Under that requirement, companies with more than 100 employees must report detailed demographic data corresponding with “pay bans” on the annual EEO-1 Form. The additional disclosures were intended to