COVID-19
Health and Safety – As the Omicron variant continues to spread, some jurisdictions, notably Rhode Island, are reimposing masking requirements for some retail locations. In the coming weeks, the new variant may encourage jurisdictions to revisit health and safety measures. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration’s OSHA standard continues to work its way through the courts and on Thursday, it urged the U.S. Supreme Court to do away with injunctions blocking the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for certain health care workers, arguing that the move was “squarely within” the federal government’s authority and is necessary to save lives. More details.
Wages
Michigan – A new committee, the Raise the Wage Michigan Ballot Committee, was introduced in an effort to place a $15/hr minimum wage initiative on the Nov. 2022 ballot. A similar measure was on the 2018 ballot but the legislature intervened and passed an increase to $12/hr by 2030. The ballot language would have to be approved by the state secretary of state before signature gathering could begin. More details.
Hobby Lobby – The company is raising its starting wage to $18.50/hr starting Jan. 1. Just recently, in Oct. of 2020, the company announced an increase to $17.00/hr and reached the $15/hr mark in 2014, well before most other retailers. More details.
Taco Bell – The company announced it is raising its average minimum wage to $15/hr at its company-owned restaurants by mid-2024. They are also adding additional employee benefits, including complementary therapy for corporate employees at restaurants and its headquarters. More details
T-Mobile – The company announced a new starting wage of $20/hr for its retail workforce. The new wage applies to all employees, regardless of role or full-time or part-time status. More details.
Paid Leave
Kroger – In order to encourage higher vaccination rates among its employees, the company announced it will no longer offer paid emergency leave to unvaccinated employees who contract COVID-19. Under the policy, unvaccinated workers who get the virus can use earned paid time off or apply for unpaid leave. Additionally, unvaccinated Kroger workers enrolled in the company health care plan will pay a $50/month additional surcharge, starting Jan.1, 2022, with hourly and unionized workers exempt from the new policy. More details.
San Francisco, CA – The city unanimously passed first of its kind legislation providing paid sick leave to domestic workers including, nannies, house cleaners, gardeners, among others. If enacted, the new law would create a portable paid sick leave benefit so workers would earn hours of paid sick leave from each employer and then consolidate them. An employer would pay one hour of wages into the sick leave fund for every 30 hours of service from a domestic worker. To take effect, the measure needs a second vote by the supervisors and must be signed by the mayor. It would then take several months for the city to hire a private company to administer the benefits program. More details.
Labor Activism
Starbucks – Workers at two stores in the Boston area have filed for union elections to join SEIU affiliate, Workers United. The workers at stores on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston and Harvard Avenue in Brookline, announced their intent to unionize in a letter to Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson on Dec. 13. Three more store locations in Buffalo are awaiting their union elections to be scheduled, after three store locations had their votes tallied on Dec. 8. In those stores, the union won outright in one location. The company won at the second location. And, the third location’s outcome is in dispute. More details.
Delivery
Minneapolis, MN – The city council voted to make permanent a cap on the commission fees charged to restaurants by third-party food delivery platforms. In Dec. 2020, the city passed an ordinance capping fees of 15 percent or less and also making it unlawful for delivery companies to charge higher fees for additional services (advertising, order placement, etc.) without consent from the restaurant. More details.
Labor Policy
NLRB – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced in their newly-published federal regulatory agenda that it would rework a 2020 rule governing joint employment. The Board plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking in Feb. to begin the process. The rule, written by the Republican majority at the time, set a standard that largely defined an employer as the business unit directly controlling workers. Democrats, now with a 3-2 majority, are expected to reinstate some version of a more expansive Obama-era standard that would make it easier for unions to organize large swaths of workers at fast food chains and other franchises. Their announcement came the same day the D.C. Circuit held oral arguments over a 2018 settlement with McDonald’s Corp. over its potential liability as a joint employer over alleged unfair labor practices. More details.
New York, NY – The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has resolved its first case under the city’s recently-enacted “just cause” law, which makes it illegal for fast food employers to fire or lay off workers, or reduce their hours by more than 15 percent, without just cause or a legitimate economic reason. The settlement is a result of an investigation into a Subway franchisee that fired two employees in Aug. 2021. Neither of the employees had any previous disciplinary action on file and were allegedly fired without discipline or written explanation after they unexpectedly could not work a scheduled shift. Under the law, an employer cannot fire or reduce hours without just cause. Employers can only fire underperforming workers after giving them multiple disciplinary warnings in a year or for egregious conduct. More details.
Misc.
Florida – The governor announced a new legislative proposal this week, the Stop WOKE Act. He intends to build upon a state education department rule earlier this year that bans the teaching of critical race theory. The new proposal, as outlined, would also apply to corporate DEI programs and the governor’s press release cited “woke” training programs at Google and Bank of America as examples of programs that would be in violation of the new law. More details.
Key Takeaways
- HR and operations teams need to enhance their training and awareness procedures throughout their organizations – in the field and at the corporate office – to adequately prepare for what may be an unprecedented wave of organizing activity in the coming year. The viral nature of what is happening at Starbucks – regardless of initial “wins or losses” by the company or union – clearly indicates that the brands will face employee interest in organizing. Brands should not make the mistake that this is a “Starbucks thing” or a “coffee shop thing” because this clearly isn’t about wages and benefits as Starbucks has traditionally been ahead of the market in these areas. The root of this activity ties back to the pandemic – health and safety concerns, lost hours / wages, scheduling issues, etc. Many of these sentiments pervade the industry’s employee base regardless of employer.
Podcast
Check out our Working Lunch podcast each week that includes further analysis into these legislative issues, policy, politics and much more. You can find Working Lunch on the Nation’s Restaurant News website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.