This week, we have a little something for everyone: a proposed change to the overtime salary threshold, the ongoing gig economy worker classification fight in California, Nevada’s new law re hiring applicants with a positive marijuana test, an update on a parental paid leave policy in Congress, and a New York law that allows employees paid time off to vote. This is quite the week of developments, to say the least.
As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.
Ohio Senator Pushes For Higher Overtime Salary Threshold
As WVXU writes, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown has recently started advocating for a new overtime salary threshold that is higher than what had been proposed during the President Barack Obama administration ($47,476/year) as well as higher than what has been proposed by the President Donald Trump administration ($35,303/year.) Senator Brown has proposed raising the current overtime salary threshold from $23,660/year to $51,064/year. For those unaware, employees with a salary below the salary threshold must be paid overtime if these employees work more than 40 hours in a week. Needless to say, any change in the overtime salary threshold would have a widespread impact on both employers and employees alike. Is there room for negotiation here? Most likely. However, with Republicans having majority control of the Senate, Senator Brown’s proposal will need to fund at least a few Republican Senators for support or risk falling apart.
Uber & Lyft Go on the Offensive, Fearing Impact of New ABC Test
Jeremy White at Politico wrote a good article earlier this month in which he noted the newfound offensive that both Uber & Lyft have started to go on in California. Readers will recall that a new ABC Test was created to determine whether a worker was an independent contractor or employee. This test makes it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors. Predictably, these ride sharing companies have started to become concerned that the California Legislature will codify the ABC Test and have started to take steps to prevent this from happening. Of note, in exchange for an agreement that Uber & Lyft drivers would remain independent contractors, these ride sharing companies would offer "a series of basic commitments on driver earning" and other related matters such as drivers being able to opt into benefits. Whether this push by Uber & Lyft produces their intended result remains to be seen...but it is worth noting that the ABC Test has spurred them to move quickly to try and eliminate the "threat" this new test could impose.
However, earlier this week, Gig Workers Rising, gathered outside Uber's headquarters in San Francisco to voice their opposition to any proposed legislation which would classify these gig workers as independent contractors. (The Gig Workers Rising Twitter feed has a bit of background on Tuesday's protest.) Something tells me this is not the last we have heard on the matter...from either side.
Nevada Employers: Re-Think Refusing to Hire That Applicant With a Positive Marijuana Test
On June 5th, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed a bill into law that prohibits employers in the state from refusing to hire a job applicant on the basis of a positive marijuana test. (However, there are few exceptions that are carved out, namely for those applying to be a firefighter or emergency medical technician.) When this law takes effect January 1, 2020, employees will also have the ability to challenge the results of an initial drug screening if employers require one within the first 30 days of hiring. Employers must then consider a second screening test (paid for by the employee.) As this article from HRDive shows, there are a hosts of things for multi-state employers to consider, given the varying degree in which many states view marijuana.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Paid Parental Leave Policy Popular Among Staff
Perhaps we should file this article under, ‘not a surprise.’ Recently, I had made note of New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s paid parental leave policy for her staff: 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents on her staff. Apparently there were several expectant parents on her staff and one was interviewed for this article. I will let readers page through the interview, but the one takeaway here is the reference to this paid leave policy being one of the best provided to Congressional staffers in D.C. With Representative Ocasio-Cortez being only a freshman legislator, it will be interesting to see if more established legislators follow suit with similar paid leave policies of their own.
New York Adopts New Paid Time Off Law to Allow Workers to Vote
Earlier this year, the State of New York revised a paid time off to vote law for workers in the state. Under the revised law, all employees that are registered to vote may request a maximum of three hours of paid time off to vote in any public election without experiencing a loss in pay. Prior to this revision, if an employee had four or more consecutive hours outside of work while the polls were open, it was presumed that the employee was not entitled to paid time off to vote. Of note, with this revision to the law, that four hour window has been eliminated. Employers and employees in New York should all take note of this change in the law.
Nevada Employers: Re-Think Refusing to Hire That Applicant With a Positive Marijuana Test
On June 5th, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed a bill into law that prohibits employers in the state from refusing to hire a job applicant on the basis of a positive marijuana test. (However, there are few exceptions that are carved out, namely for those applying to be a firefighter or emergency medical technician.) When this law takes effect January 1, 2020, employees will also have the ability to challenge the results of an initial drug screening if employers require one within the first 30 days of hiring. Employers must then consider a second screening test (paid for by the employee.) As this article from HRDive shows, there are a hosts of things for multi-state employers to consider, given the varying degree in which many states view marijuana.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Paid Parental Leave Policy Popular Among Staff
Perhaps we should file this article under, ‘not a surprise.’ Recently, I had made note of New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s paid parental leave policy for her staff: 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents on her staff. Apparently there were several expectant parents on her staff and one was interviewed for this article. I will let readers page through the interview, but the one takeaway here is the reference to this paid leave policy being one of the best provided to Congressional staffers in D.C. With Representative Ocasio-Cortez being only a freshman legislator, it will be interesting to see if more established legislators follow suit with similar paid leave policies of their own.
New York Adopts New Paid Time Off Law to Allow Workers to Vote
Earlier this year, the State of New York revised a paid time off to vote law for workers in the state. Under the revised law, all employees that are registered to vote may request a maximum of three hours of paid time off to vote in any public election without experiencing a loss in pay. Prior to this revision, if an employee had four or more consecutive hours outside of work while the polls were open, it was presumed that the employee was not entitled to paid time off to vote. Of note, with this revision to the law, that four hour window has been eliminated. Employers and employees in New York should all take note of this change in the law.
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