Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more