Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


I came across a lot of great articles this week which made it tougher to narrow down.  With the recent announcement out of West Virginia in regard to its right to work legislation becoming effective on July 1, 2016, I thought leading this post off with a right to work article was appropriate.  It will be interesting to see who the 27th state will be that is able to pass right to work legislation.  

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


Colorado Takes Steps Toward Becoming a Right to Work State

The Denver Business Journal has a note on a recent vote by Republicans in the Colorado Senate to pass a bill that would make Colorado the 27th right to work state.  While Republicans in the Senate were able to approve the bill, the fact that the House is controlled by Democrats with a 34 - 31 majority means this legislation is likely going nowhere.  Short of a few Democrats switching sides and approving the right to work legislation, Colorado Republicans will likely have to wait and try again when they have numbers on their side.


Why Equal Pay Could Become the Next Big Class Action Trend

Given the fact that equal pay has become a hot button issue on the Democratic side in the primary season so far, I found this to be a thought provoking article.  The National Law Review speculates that given the recent announcement by the EEOC in regard to employers now being required to submit information on employee wages and work hours broken down by gender, race, and EEO-1 category, among other national developments on the equal pay front, equal pay class action suits might become a growing trend.  This is certainly a plausible scenario, given the environment in which equal pay claims are becoming a more common occurrence on the litigation front.  Employers, take note:  equal pay class actions could become a reality in the not too distant future!


Would Hillary Clinton's Support of a $15/Hour Minimum Wage Boost Her Candidacy?

The Statesman Journal has a good op-ed piece from The New York Times in which Hillary Clinton is encouraged to embrace a $15/hour minimum wage message.  As The Times suggests, Clinton's support of a $12/hour minimum wage does not go far enough.  Instead, it is argued that given that a minimum wage increase would be phased in over several years, a $15/hour minimum wage is more in tune with what these workers would need to earn over the long haul, once the full wage increase became effective.  I do not know if I agree with the argument that Clinton's candidacy would become stronger once she embraced a $15/hour minimum wage though...she already appears to have a good hold on the nomination (and might be wary of embracing a $15/hour minimum wage position if she had to "sell" that in a general election, as opposed to a Democratic primary fight).

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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more