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What I've Been Reading This Week


The week back after Thanksgiving break is normally always hectic.  This year in particular was no exception.  While I would normally prefer to highlight several articles, this week I am going to keep it brief as I have been traveling for work quite a bit and have not had as much time as I would have liked to read through articles.

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

A few weeks ago, a three judge panel from the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin issued a temporary injunction to block Austin’s paid leave ordinance passed by the City Council back in February.  That paid leave ordinance, a rarity in Texas, would have required most employers in the city to offer their employees six to eight days of paid leave for a year of work, depending on the size of the employer.  Critics of the ordinance scrambled to block its implementation before its expected start, October 1st.   (The ordinance was temporarily blocked in August while the 3rd Court of Appeals heard arguments on the matter).   In the opinion, Chief Judge Jeff Rose, Justice David Puryear, and Justice Scott Field found the ordinance to be unconstitutional on the grounds that it violated the Texas Minimum Wage Act.  The City if Austin is apparently examining its options after the injunction was issued.

Readers might recall that there is a similar measure, HB 222, that has been introduced in the Texas Legislature to block this type of paid leave ordinance.  While the Court’s temporary injunction does not necessarily impact that legislation, I would expect the injunction to embolden the Congressmen that are seeking to secure HB 222’s passage during this legislative session.


The Ongoing Fight to Narrow the Gender Wage Gap

The Institute For Women’s Policy Research published a well written report recently that examined, among other topics, how much less women in the workforce earn compared to their male counterparts.  This study suggests that women actually earn $.49 for every $1 that a man makes...a far cry from the ‘traditional’ notion of women earning $.80 for every $1 that a man makes.  While this report is not necessarily intended to provide a solution, it gives readers food for thought on the matter.


Amazon’s $15/Hour Wage Rate: Other Employers Are Not Necessarily Falling In Line

Amazon’s announcement earlier this year that it would increase its starting hourly wage rate to $15/hour garnered quite a bit of attention and press.  While the company has been lauded following their announcement, some speculated that other large employers would follow suit and also raise their starting hourly wage rates.  However as Dan Monk at WCPO reports, WalMart and Kroger have both stated that they are not necessarily going to follow Amazon’s lead.  At Kroger, the company has noted that starting hourly wages at its warehouse locations are higher than $15/hour and the average hourly rate at its stores is around $14/hour, not including pension and healthcare benefits.  (Readers might recall that Amazon did catch a bit of flack when it was reported that the company was withdrawing benefits for workers that were to receive the $15/hour minimum wage rate).  As for WalMart, the company reported on a conference call that the current it’s hourly wage rate had risen to $11/hour and the company was constantly studying ‘labor market hotspots’ every two weeks to determine whether to increase hourly wage rates at certain stores.  For the time being, Amazon’s hourly wage hike does not appear to have influenced any other large scale employers to follow suit.

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