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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

On the heels of the Fight for $15 movement continuing to chug along, attention has focused on the fast food industry as being an industry ripe for an increase in worker pay.  I want to lead things off this week with a note about an upcoming pay raise for some (and I emphasize some) workers at McDonald’s.  Will franchisees of McDonald’s follow suit?  Time will tell but short of major political pressure (or a shift in consumer spending), I would not hold my breath.

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


McDonald’s Raising Pay Across the Board

Earlier this week, it was announced that McDonald’s would raise the pay rate at its company owned locations over the next several months to the tune of a 10% increase.  Once the increase in pay goes into place, entry level workers will see hourly pay rates in the range of $11 - $17 while managers can expect to see $15 - $20.  One interesting note is the fact that this pay increase does not apply to franchisee owned locations...which make up 95% of locations.  So while this pay increase is noteworthy, it will not impact the majority of worker at McDonald’s locations around the country. 


Hiring An Applicant Remotely: A New Frontier

The Harvard Business Review published an interesting article recently in which it noted that in the age of the coronavirus pandemic and remote work, many employers are hiring applicants without ever seeing them in person.  With that change to the hiring process comes several nuances, such as how to conduct an interview (or interviews) with applicants, whether to incorporate other employees in the process, as well as what (if any) trial projects should be included in the application process.  Granted, there is no clear cut procedure for every workplace or employer, but this article has several unique suggestions on how to conduct the hiring process remotely which are worth considering.


Louisiana Governor Voices Support For Pay Transparency Legislation

Late last week, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards appeared on a Zoom call with women leaders in Louisiana and voiced his support for House Bill 245 (“HB 245”).  The proposed legislation, which recently cleared a House Labor Committee and advanced to the full House, would prohibit employers in the state from asking about an applicant’s salary history or relying upon an applicant’s prior salary history to make an offer of employment.  Further, the legislation would also allow workers to discuss their pay rate with each other without fear of retaliation from their employers.  Advocates of this pay transparency legislation have argued it is necessary to allow workers to freely discuss their pay rate with each other while also preventing prior salaries from holding them back when applying for new positions.  This legislation seeks to level the playing field by allowing workers in the state to openly discuss their pay rates so as to prohibit male and female workers from being paid disproportionately.  With Republicans having majority control of the Louisiana Legislature and the state’s Democratic Governor backing HB 245, this bipartisan legislation might end up becoming law.  Stay tuned.

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