Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week: Paid Leave Edition


As I had highlighted earlier this week a paid leave “battle” in New Hampshire between the Republican Governor and the Democratic Legislature, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight some other developments across the country in regard to paid leave.  With paid leave on the ballot this November, there is no time like the present to do a bit of a deep dive into the topic.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


How Realistic Is a National Paid Leave Law?

Ah yes, paid leave.  One of the more bandied about labor and employment law related topics.  While there appears to be support among both Republicans and Democrats for a national paid leave law, neither side can come to an agreement with the other on how it would be funded, whether it would be mandatory, which workers would qualify, etc.  This particular study from AEI examines the issue a bit closer and takes into account how a national paid leave law would impact low wage workers.  For those interested in a well thought out study on the topic, this is worth a read.


Study: Two Thirds of Small Business Owners Support Paid Leave

On the heels of the above article from AEI, I point readers to a recent study that was conducted in which it was found that two thirds of small business owners support paid leave.  The study, conducted by the non-profit Paid Leave for All, appears to show widespread support among “Mom and Pop” businesses around the country.  Perhaps one of the more telling signs that this support for paid leave is not just a fluke is the fact that the Director of Paid Leave for All, Dawn Huckelbridge, points out that over the years there has been consistent support for paid leave.  Rather than this being a flash in the pan or somewhat of an outlier study, it appears that contrary to what many might believe, small business owners have been (and continue to be) supports of paid leave.


On the Ballot This November: Colorado’s Proposition 118

Voters in Colorado this year have the option to vote on Proposition 118, a proposed paid family and medical leave ballot initiative.  The Proposition, if approved, would provide Colorado workers with 12 weeks of paid time off to care for a new child, recover from a personal illness or injury, care for a sick or injured family member, or address needs related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or a family member’s military deployment.  (Four additional weeks would also be provided to workers experiencing complications from pregnancy.)  As The Colorado Time Recorder writes, with nearly 80% of Colorado workers not having access to paid family or medical leave, Proposition 118 could impact a wide swath of workers in the state.  Critics of the Proposition argue that it would be too costly (as the paid leave would be funded by both employers and employees paying .45% of the employees’ wage into the program.  This would amount to $3.83/week for the average worker.)  In a state that leans to the left and with a contested Senate race on the ballot (during a Presidential election year no less), I would expect voter turnout to be high.  If I were a betting man, I would expect to see Proposition 118 pass.  Stay tuned.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more

Utah Non-Compete Bill Falters in House

Last month, a non-compete bill sponsored by Representative Brian Greene (Republican from Pleasant Grove) & up for vote in the Utah House failed to make it through the Legislature.  The bill sought to ban enforcement of non-competes if they came after a worker was already employed, given no compensation (such as a bonus or promotion) for signing the non-compete, and laid off within six months.  However, by a 22 - 49 vote, the bill was resoundingly defeated after some business groups lobbied to kill the non-compete bill.  One group in particular, The Free Enterprise Utah coalition, argued that the Utah State Legislature should hold off on any changes to non compete laws in the state until a survey about non competes was done among Utah businesses.  Representative Greene had countered this claim and argued that a survey was not needed to show that the current non compete laws in the states allowed many businesses, including some small high tech companies in the state, to per
Post a Comment
Read more