Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


Quite a few employment law developments this week, although more so in politics rather than in the courts.  Between Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren making news this week in regard to the minimum wage fight, President Donald Trump has created his fair share of headlines as well (in regard to topics relevant to the employment law field that is).  Although this post is a bit more expansive than normal, I wanted to highlight several key developments that readers might have missed (or simply want more information on).

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


Democratic House Minority Leader Vows to Take Up $15/Hour Minimum Wage Bill

Last week, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced that should Democrats win control of the House in the midterm elections next year, a $15/hour minimum wage bill would be passed within the first 100 hours of Democrats seizing control of the House.  As Elana Schor at Politico writes, Pelosi noted the last time the federal minimum wage rate was hiked, in 2007, was when Democrats had control of the House.  Whether Democrats can seize control of the House in 2018 is up in the air (as readers might recall that every House seat will be up for election next year).  Even if Democrats do manage to win control of the House, it will be interesting to see if they can pass a $15/hour minimum wage bill within the first 100 hours...not to mention that a Republican president would likely veto the legislation (should it manage to pass the Senate).  For the time being, this likely remains a flashy headline for Democrats to use to rally supporters as the 2018 elections gradually approaches.


A Closer Look at the Decline of Women in the Workforce

Natalie Kitroeff at The Los Angeles Times wrote a rather in depth and well researched article on the noticeable decline of women in the workforce.  Using two women in California as examples, Kitroeff paints a picture that lends itself to a myriad of reasons why women are leaving the workforce:  The slow rise of wages for many lower level positions typically held by women, the automation or export of many positions, and an inherent prejudice against women in the workplace that stifles their chances of promotion, among other reasons.  While this article does not attempt to identify the 'smoking gun' for why women are leaving the workforce, nor does it try, it certainly gives readers something to ponder.


Senator Elizabeth Warren Talks About Reliable Scheduling Act & Minimum Wage

This week, Pod Save America had a discussion with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in which the topic of a reliable scheduling bill and the continued fight for a higher hourly minimum wage were discussed.  (For those unfamiliar with Pod Save America, it is a weekly podcast from several former Obama Administration members who discuss topical political developments of the week).  With that being said, their discussion with Elizabeth Warren about these two particular topics is is worth a listen either via the YouTube link or through iTunes, as it gives somewhat of a window into the plans Democrats have to move certain pieces of legislation through Congress...assuming they are able to seize control of Congress in upcoming elections.


President Trump Moves to Roll Back Employer Contraception Mandate

In a move that should not come as much of a surprise, President Donald Trump appears to be intent on taking steps to remove an Obama Administration mandate that employers provide health insurance to their employees that includes contraception coverage.  This comes on the heels of the 2014 Supreme Court case which decided that "closely held" private companies (in addition to religious groups and organizations) would refuse to offer contraception coverage on moral grounds.  Robert Pear at The New York Times writes that the Trump Administration is rumored to be looking at overhauling that mandate and expanding the exemption to allow any employer to seek a moral or religious exemption from that requirement.  Keep an eye on this one.


Illinois State Legislature Approves $15/Hour Minimum Wage Bill

On Tuesday, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 61 - 53 in favor of a bill that would raise the hourly minimum wage rate in the state from its current rate of $8.25/hour to $15/hour by 2022.  Wednesday, the Illinois Senate followed suit with a vote in favor of the $15/hour minimum wage bill with 30 state senators in support 30 and 23 against.  Now, the bill heads to Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's desk for approval or veto but as of this writing, it is unclear what the Governor will do with the bill.  Governor Rauner has been pro-employer in the past (having advocated for right to work "zones" two years ago), so it would not come as a surprise if he chose to veto the bill.  However, with his re-election race coming up next year, a conservative running in a traditionally liberal state such as Illinois might be looking to score points with voters...such that his approval of this bill is a real possibility.

Comments

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

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

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