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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Some readers might have watched the Presidential debate earlier this week and decided that they will head to the polls to vote for President Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Joe Biden (or perhaps a write in vote for Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo, or Joey Baggadonuts.)  In doing so, I would refer you to the below article from The National Law Review that addresses some states which provide paid leave to go vote.  Of course there are several other articles worth reviewing, but that paid leave article is well worth a read.

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


A Closer Look At the Increase to Labor Costs if Florida’s Amendment 2 Passes in November

The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association has provided a calculator which shows how much the labor costs will increase for employers in the state, as to tipped workers, should voters approve Amendment 2 next month.  For those needing a refresher, Amendment 2 would increase the hourly pay rate for hourly and tipped workers in Florida.  While it appears that Amendment 2 will likely garner enough support to pass, there is still time for opponents to defeat the Amendment.  This resource from the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association is a step in that direction.


Are Employees Entitled to Paid Time Off to Vote? Depending the State, Yes

November’s elections are not far off and that means many employees will be headed to the polls on November 3rd to cast their votes.  In doing so, that means some employees will be taking time off work to go vote which depending on the state, means that these employees are entitled to paid time off to do so.  The National Law Review has a good resource which breaks down several states which allow for paid time off to vote (including California and New York) and which states allow for unpaid time off to vote (including Texas and Massachusetts.)  Depending your state, I would suggest consulting the local law in place and whether advance notice must be given to employers that time off will be used to go vote (such as in Illinois.)

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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