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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Only a few days way from the Presidential election on November 3rd, some readers might be poring over recent poll numbers, early vote totals, and other election related materials.  Although we could delve into the Presidential race, down ballot elections, and ballot initiatives, I will refer readers instead to their preferred news source.  Save for a brief reference to President Donald Trump’s Labor Department below, let this post serve as a respite from election coverage.

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


Many San Diego Workers to Receive $14/Hour Wage Rate Effective January 1st

Readers might recall that the state of California has implemented an hourly wage hike starting in 2021:  For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the hourly wage rate will rise to $13/hour.  For employers with 26 or more employees, the hourly wage rate will rise to $14/hour.  However, San Diego has implemented its own minimum wage hike, requiring all employers (regardless of how many employees they have) to pay an hourly wage rate of $14/hour beginning January 1st.


Labor Department Changes Policy for Announcing Labor & Employment Violations

At the end of September, a memorandum was circulated amongst the Labor Department (and obtained by The New York Times) in which the Department indicated that “absent extraordinary circumstances”, any labor & employment law violations should not be the basis for a news release.  This is somewhat of an about face by the Labor Department, which critics have been quick to characterize as the Department trying to sweep labor & employment law violations under the rug.  While a news release about a violation likely does not mean much in the grand scheme of things, it could be viewed as useful to help draw attention to problematic companies (that commit these violations) and show how effective the Labor Department has been in discovering these violations.  With that being said, it looks like this new policy is here to stay (so long as this version of the Labor Department, under President Donald Trump remains in place.)


Is Now the Time When Amazon Workers Unionize?

Annie Palmer over at CNBC wrote an article over the past weekend in which she pointed out that since the coronavirus pandemic took hold earlier this year, there are increased rumblings that workers at Amazon are inching closer than ever to unionizing.  I refer readers to Palmer’s article for an in depth overview of how Amazon has managed to stave off unionization in the past.  However, over the past few months, Amazon workers have been taking noticeable steps toward forming a union.  This is one development to keep an eye on going forward.

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