Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


As a result of several major developments out of New Jersey as of late, I think it it only makes sense to have an article dealing with the state's new paid sick leave bill lead off this post.  The one thing I am curious to see is whether other states follow New Jersey's lead and attempt to pass similar legislation.  As this first article addresses, the impact (both positive and negative) of this new paid sick leave bill could be telling as to whether any states do indeed follow suit.

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



After New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a paid sick leave bill into law last week, attention has now turned to the impact this bill will have on employers and employees alike in the state.  Although the law will not go into effect for about 180 days, now is the time for employers to ensure they are in compliance.  As Jennifer Fischer and Mark Konkel write, this new bill preempts all existing municipal and county sick leave laws already in place.  However, for employers that are already offering paid leave that is accrued at a rate equal to or greater than the new legislation passed, they will be considered to be in compliance.  In regard to exceptions/exemptions, they are relatively narrow:  Certain small businesses (with less than 10 employees) can "cap" the number of hours an employee can accrue at 40; and per diem health care workers and construction workers are exempt if they are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.


Vote to Raise Minimum Wage in Connecticut Falls Short in State Legislature

Christine Stuart at CT New Junkie wrote earlier this week that efforts to raise the hourly minimum wage rate in the state from $10.10/hour (the current rate) to $12/hour by 2020 fell short in the Connecticut Legislature.  There was widespread concern over whether supporters of the bill would have enough votes to approve the legislation if the bill made it out of committee.  In fact, one State Senator, Joan Hartley (a Democrat), indicated she would vote for a bill that would raise the hourly minimum wage to $15/hour so that the measure would make it out of committee but would not vote for its passage on the Senate floor.  Questions arose as to whether she would even support a $12/hour minimum wage bill.  As a result, the measure which would have raised the state's hourly minimum wage rate to $12/hour by 2020 did not even make it to a vote in either chamber.  This comes on the heels of a similar bill in 2016 that failed to garner enough support to become law.  Perhaps advocates of a minimum wage hike will re-group and try again in 2020??

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

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday
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