Wages

Hawaii – Effective Jan. 1, the state minimum wage will rise by $2/hr to $16/hr. The state has a multi-tiered wage system and if servers earn more than $21/hr in wages and tips, the server wage is $12.75/hr. For those making less, the server wage and the minimum wage are equivalent. The wage is scheduled to reach $18/hr by 2028 and the small existing tip credit will be eventually eliminated. More details.

Boulder County, CO – The county commission is discussing pausing the automatic increase to the current minimum wage and potentially could revise it downward. Under current law, the minimum wage in the unincorporated parts of the county is scheduled to increase to $25/hr by 2030. There is, however, growing opposition from the business community that the increases are unsustainable. There are five options for revisions before the commission ranging from keeping the current schedule to slowing, pausing, or aligning with the City of Boulder’s lower trajectory. No votes were taken and another hearing is scheduled for Nov. More details.

Portland, ME – Absentee voting has begun for the Nov. ballot initiative that would incrementally raise the wage to $19/hr by 2028, indexing for inflation thereafter. If passed, the current minimum wage of $15.50/hr will rise to $16.75/hr on Jan.1, $17.75/hr in 2027 and the full $19/hr by 2028. In 2022, Portland voters rejected a measure that would have raised the minimum wage to $18/hr by 2025 and would have eliminated the tip credit. More details.

Paid Leave

California – The governor signed legislation expanding the definition of who is eligible as “covered persons” under the state’s paid family leave program. Currently, workers can get up to eight weeks of paid time off to care for “a seriously ill family member.” That includes a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse or domestic partner. The new law, which takes effect July 1, 2028, would expand the definition to include “designated persons” which would include extended family members or loved ones with the “equivalent of a family relationship.” Advocates argued that immigrant populations, seniors, and members of the LGBTQ community disproportionately rely on caregivers who they’re not biologically related to. More details.

Washington – The actuary for the state’s robust paid leave program announced that unless significant changes are made, the program will go off a “fiscal cliff” with a possible $350 million deficit by 2029. The state sets a premium rate annually for how much employers and employees need to pay into the program. This year, 0.92 percent of workers’ paychecks go toward it. Next year, that’s projected to increase to 1.13 percent. The challenge is that state law caps premiums for the paid leave program at 1.2 percent. The state is projected to reach that cap in 2027 and stay there. That plateau means the program likely won’t be able to keep up with rising claims for benefits and increased payments as wages grow. The program has been steadily growing since its launch in 2020. From July 1-June 30, 2024, over 320,000 applications were submitted for paid leave, up 15 percent from the previous year, according to a report this month. Over 240,000 Washingtonians received more than $2 billion in total benefits, a year-over-year increase of about $300 million. More details.

Labor Policy

U.S. Senate – The Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) held the first of a two-part hearing series on labor law reform. Witnesses included: Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; former National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) Chair Marvin Kaplan; Rachel Greszler, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation; Jennifer Abruzzo, former general counsel at the NLRB; and Steve Cochran, a skilled trades worker and co-chair of the Local 42 bargaining committee. Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) noted the need for “labor laws that work for workers, unions, and businesses, making the United States competitive in a 21st century economy.” No votes were taken on any pending legislation, but a focal point of the hearing was Sen. Josh Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act. While Democratic witnesses largely praised the legislation, Republican witnesses addressed its overreach. More details.

U.S. Senate – Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) reintroduced the Employee Rights Act of 2025, which would modernize federal labor law to guarantee workers the right to a secret ballot representation election, enable workers to opt-in to union political spending on an annual basis (rather than be automatically forced to fund political activities they may personally oppose), and allow workers to opt out of union representation in right-to-work states, among other things. More details.

California – The governor signed legislation that makes several changes to the state’s equal pay requirements. The amendments are intended to continue to decrease perceived pay inequities and make it easier to seek legal remedies for wage disparities. These revisions are effective Jan. 1, 2026. The updated law requires the pay scale on the job posting to be the salary or hourly wage range the employer in good faith reasonably expects to pay “upon hire.” This definition may narrow the posted pay scale because the range should be the range the employer expects to pay to the candidate upon hire, instead of a broader range that some employers might have previously provided to cover the full range for the position. The amendment also confirms that the definition of wages for equal pay claims aligns with federal Equal Pay Act standards and includes all forms of compensation, including benefits such as life insurance, vacation pay, holiday pay, stock options, and bonuses. Despite this clarification in the equal pay context, there is no requirement for employers to include additional forms of compensation in the posted pay ranges. The law also extends the statute of limitations for civil actions and permits plaintiffs to seek relief for the entire period of time during which a violation exists, but limits potential recovery to a period of up to six years. More details.

Massachusetts – Pay transparency legislation enacted in 2024 is scheduled to take effect Oct. 29. Under the new law, employers with 25 or more employees will be required to include pay ranges in job postings for all positions. While the current Temporary Workers’ Rights law already required pay rates to be included in jobs sent to candidates for temporary work in the state, this new law is not limited to temporary workers and will now require pay ranges to be included in all job ads posted by covered employers. It further mandates employers provide pay ranges to employees offered a promotion or transfer to a new position with different job responsibilities and that current employees can request the pay range for their current position. The law further includes an anti-retaliation component protecting employees and applicants from being retaliated against for exercising their rights under the law. More details.

New York – Last month, the governor signed legislation authorizing the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) to assert jurisdiction over disputes between employers and unions if the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is unable or unwilling to do so. The new law creates the potential for both the NLRB and PERB to assert jurisdiction over the same labor dispute, escalating costs for employers and unions alike. The NLRB immediately filed suit against the state saying the law potentially conflicts with federal law and violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause. This week, a broad coalition of business associations filed an amicus brief supporting the NLRB’s challenge. Members of the coalition include the National Independent Federation of Businesses Small Business Legal Center, the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Associated General Contractors of New York State, the New York Business Council, and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. More details.

New York City – The city council passed amendments to existing local laws that, if passed, would impose new pay equity reporting obligations on certain private employers and require the city to conduct annual pay equity studies. The measures are designed to identify and address wage disparities based on gender, race, and ethnicity. The amendments are now pending before the mayor, who has 30 days to sign, veto, or allow the amendments to become law automatically. If the amendments become law, private employers with at least 200 employees that file EEO-1 Component 1 reports with the EEOC will be required to submit annual pay data reports to a city agency designated by the mayor. The data will align with information previously required under the EEOC’s EEO-1 Component 2 filings. Employers will then have one year to submit their first reports and must file subsequent reports on an annual basis. Those who fail to comply risk civil penalties and being publicly listed on the agency’s website. More details.

Philadelphia, PA – The city council unanimously passed a “ban the box” bill amending and expanding the existing Philadelphia Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Law (the Fair Chance Law). This legislation, which takes effect on Jan. 6, 2026, introduces several changes aimed at enhancing protections for job applicants and employees with criminal records. Some of the more significant changes include a reduction of the lookback period for misdemeanors from seven years to four. The lookback period for felons remains the same. It also reconciles the limitations under the local law with those imposed by the Pennsylvania Criminal Records Information Act by confirming that employers may not consider summary offenses, which are offenses that do not rise to the level of a felony or misdemeanor, when making employment decisions. Additionally, regarding background checks, if an employer chooses to provide notice of its intention to perform a background check during the hiring process, such as in a job advertisement or in a job offer, it must now also state that any consideration of the background check will be an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s or employee’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. The mayor is expected to sign the bill. More details.

Labor Activism

One Fair Wage – A week after launching their new Living Wage for All Coalition at a New York City event, the group launched the political wing of the effort, a new political action committee called the Make America Affordable Now PAC. The progressive PAC is advocating for states to establish a wage floor that reflects the current cost of living, which the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates is $25/hour nationally and up to $30/hour in high-cost areas, such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. The evening was hosted by model and television personality Chrissy Teigen and featured speakers, including One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Also attending were Saturday Night Live’s Heidi Gardner, Bravo’s Cierra Miller, actor Orlando Bloom and award-winning television personality Gayle King. It has already thrown its support behind a handful of candidates, some of whom were present, including Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Omar Fateh and Seattle Mayoral Candidate Katie Wilson, among others. More details.

Food Policy

West Virginia – The International Association of Color Manufacturers filed a lawsuit against the state claiming their new MAHA-inspired law banning certain food dyes is arbitrary, not based on scientific evidence, and violates both the state and federal constitutions. The new law passed earlier this year prohibits food and beverage companies from selling products with seven synthetic dyes, as well as the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, beginning in 2028. The legal challenge represents the first major effort from the food industry to fight back as more states consider artificial dye restrictions in step with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement. More details.

Sustainability

EPA – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reversed course on previous Biden Administration policy and now says it agrees with aspects of a lawsuit filed against it by water utilities and chemical companies last year. That lawsuit aims to overturn the EPA’s drinking water regulation for PFAS. The American Water Works Association and Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies sued the agency last year, saying the EPA did not follow required legal steps under the Safe Drinking Water Act when it set new drinking water standards for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Biden administration in 2024. The agency requested a federal court throw out part of the case, agreeing with the utilities that the prior administration had not set a required public comment period on the proposed inclusion of four versions of the chemicals: PFHxS, PFNA, PFBS and HFPO-DA, commonly known as GenX. The EPA says it will continue to defend its regulations of two other chemicals in the standard: PFOA and PFOS. More details.

California – The governor vetoed two bills related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and plastic microbeads. The first bill would have prohibited by 2028 the distribution or sale in California of any food packaging and certain other consumer products that included intentionally added PFAS. That prohibition would have extended to a range of other categories, including cleaning products and cookware by 2031. The Consumer Brands Association (CBA) and a number of celebrity chefs – many of whom sell branded cookware – led the opposition to the bill. The other bill would have expanded on an existing 2020 law to further restrict the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products. That bill was opposed by the CBA, the American Beverage Association, California Chamber of Commerce, California Grocers Association and International Bottled Water Association. More details.

Immigration

U.S. Chamber of Commerce – The nation’s largest business association sued the Trump administration to block steep new fees in the H-1B visa program, its first legal action against the administration this term. The chamber’s lawsuit alleges that Trump’s new $100,000 visa fees for the H-1B program violates the Immigration and Nationality Act, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The business group called the fee “not only misguided policy” but also “plainly unlawful” and is requesting that the court block the fee and declare it exceeds the executive branch’s authority. The group has remained notably quiet on other policies that have rattled the U.S. business community since Trump took office in Jan. The chamber did not file a lawsuit over the Trump administration’s tariffs, for example, which have distressed small and large businesses across the economy. More details.

Misc.

Ohio – A district judge has temporarily blocked the governor from banning intoxicating hemp products in Ohio, including hemp-based beverages, amid a lawsuit. Earlier this month, the governor had issued an executive order blocking sales in the state for 30 days. Titan Logistic Group, Fumee Smoke, and Vape and Invicta Partners (all members of the Ohio Healthy Alternatives Association) filed a lawsuit last week against the ban, arguing DeWine is breaking federal and state law by restricting access to these products. The ban was supposed to begin this week and retailers would have been required to remove intoxicating hemp products from shelves and cease all sales or be subject to a fine. Questions over whether DeWine has the executive authority to regulate intoxicating hemp sales stem back to his own admission, in a Jan. 2024 press conference, that he’d need the legislature to take action in order to get any significant safeguards into law. The temporary restraining order lasts for 14 days but could be renewed at the end of that window. More details.

Key Takeaways

• The hospitality industry needs to engage now if it hopes to impact state-level policy conversations around hemp beverages. Ohio and Texas have both been on the verge of outlawing hemp products within the past few months. Texas’ governor vetoed legislation that sought to outlaw products and intends to introduce his own regulatory scheme to manage products. On the flip side, Ohio’s governor is determined to outlaw, or severely limit, the sale of products. He has been temporarily thwarted by the courts. These states, along with a long list of others, will look to engage on this issue in the coming months, and during their respective 2026 legislative sessions. If the industry wants to maintain the option to sell hemp-based products, it needs to participate in these evolving discussions. 

• We have been noting for a few years now how the industry and individual restaurants themselves have become a stage on which many of the country’s important legislative, political, and cultural issues are playing out. As the Administration continues to populate large urban metros with immigration enforcement agents, some level of local pushback is to be expected. In the last few weeks, numerous restaurants in Chicago have begun posting signs on their storefronts stating that ICE and other federal agents are unwelcome in their restaurants. While individual operators are free to do as they please with their own businesses, if these actions were to escalate within the current environment of instant rage and retaliation, it is not a reach to be concerned that the industry itself might eventually become a political football once again. Brands should keep an eye on these developments and ensure that their local teams are following proper company standards and protocol with regard to political expression.