Wages
Colorado – A house committee advanced legislation that would mandate that every municipality in the state with a minimum wage greater than the state rate offset the difference with a tip credit. That cash wage amount would be in addition to the existing state rate of $3.02/hr. Municipalities would, in effect, add the difference between the state and higher local minimum wage to the existing tip credit, making the tipped minimum the same statewide, currently at $11.79/hr. For example, if passed, Denver, where the minimum wage is $4/hr higher than the state’s, the total tip credit for restaurants could rise to $7.02/hr for each employee. The bill has an additional committee stop in the house. More details.
Michigan – The governor signed legislation amending the minimum wage law that was set to go into effect today, Feb. 21. The bill changes the annual increase of the minimum hourly wage and tipped wage. The minimum hourly wage would still rise to $12.48/hr on Feb. 21, but it would reach $15/hr by 2027 instead of 2028. The tipped wage will increase to 40 percent of the regular minimum wage in 2026, 42 percent in 2027, 44 percent in 2028, 46 percent in 2029, 48 percent in 2030, and 50 percent in 2031, where it will remain. More details.
New Mexico – Legislation passed through a house committee that calls for a $5 bump to the current $12/hr minimum wage rate starting in 2026. If passed, it would also eliminate the tip credit and then tie the wage to the Consumer Price Index going forward. The bill has an additional committee stop in the house before going to the floor. More details.
Virginia – Legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15/hr by 2027 is on its way to the governor. The governor has routinely vetoed minimum wage bills and this year will likely be no different. More details.
Paid Leave
Michigan – Just shy of a Feb. 21 deadline, the governor signed modified paid sick leave legislation. The new language changes the sick leave benefits for those at workplaces employing fewer than 10 individuals, still giving those workers up to 40 hours of paid sick leave each year but removing the provision that would have entitled them to an additional 32 hours of unpaid sick leave. Those working for large employers would still receive up to 72 hours of paid sick leave annually. Workers would accrue a minimum of one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, but employers could opt instead to offer the full annual sick leave allotment at the beginning of the year. The new version also gives small businesses more time to comply with the new sick leave requirements, setting an implementation date of Oct. 1, overriding the court’s Friday deadline. Like the original proposal, workers could use sick leave when needed for their own or a family member’s health issues, preventative care and treatment and legal action following domestic violence or sexual assault. Workers could also use sick leave during public health emergencies that close their workplace or a child’s school or child care facility. More details.
Minnesota – On a party-line vote, a house committee advanced legislation that would delay the implementation of paid lead in the state by one year (from Jan. 1, 2026, to Jan. 1, 2027). The bill is one of a host of bills lawmakers will be considering making modifications to the pending law. More details.
Labor Policy
Labor Department – President Trump’s pick as labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer (a former Republican member of Congress) faced pointed questions from both parties in her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing this week over her past support for pro-union legislation, an issue that could complicate her nomination. She was pressed repeatedly about her stand on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, known as the PRO Act. Union-backed legislation aimed at strengthening collective bargaining rights and labor organizing activities. She was a co-sponsor of the measure and one of only a few Republicans to back it. Asked for her current views on the bill, Chavez-DeRemer said she would simply serve the president’s agenda. Her confirmation vote will be Feb. 27. More details.
Colorado – The senate advanced a bill that would make it easier to form unions by eliminating a second election mandated by Colorado’s Labor Peace Act to form a union, a requirement that is unique to Colorado. Federal law allows employees to unionize with a simple majority vote, but they must participate in a second vote with 75 percent approval to determine if workers who don’t support the union have to pay representation fees. The Colorado Labor Peace Act passed in the 1940s, and bill sponsors referred to the provision requiring a second vote as “a relic of the past.” The bill now moves to the house where it will likely pass. More details.
Utah – The governor signed legislation that limits public sector collective bargaining and stops union representatives from doing union work while on public time. It also bars employees from receiving paid leave benefits for union activities and requires unions to pay to use meeting spaces that other groups have to pay for, and to report annually to the labor commission the number of members they have and the money they spend. More details.
Labor Activism
Amazon – Workers voted overwhelmingly against a bid to unionize a Garner, NC warehouse, the National Labor Relations Board reported, the latest setback in labor organizing efforts at the company. Workers at the RDU1 fulfillment center outside of Raleigh voted 2,447 to 829 against unionizing with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, an upstart union founded by warehouse workers in 2022. Organizers at the warehouse, which employs more than 4,000 people, sought starting wages of $30/hr and were demanding longer lunch breaks and increased vacation time. The current pay range is about $18 to $24/hr. More details.
Misc.
Health & Human Services – In his initial address to the staff of the new agency he oversees, Secretary Kennedy said that “nothing is off limits” in his agenda to battle chronic diseases. He highlighted the Make America Healthy Again Commission, established by President Trump that he will lead, to prioritize topics he cares about but that he said were “formerly taboo or insufficiently scrutinized” by mainstream scientists. He is expected to pursue investigations into processed food, food additives, and other issues critically important to the industry. More details.
Key Takeaway
- In a buildup to more efforts either in Los Angeles or at the state level to bolster their agenda, labor community activists have released a new “study” accusing the quick service industry of systemic wage theft. The authors contend that in 2024, 25 percent of fast food workers in Greater Los Angeles were illegally paid below the minimum wage. That’s more than 8 times higher than the violation rate of 3 percent in 2009. Additionally, they estimated that 12,660 fast food workers in Greater Los Angeles experience wage theft annually, though most never come forward to complain. They conclude that this is likely due to the predominance of the franchise business model and low rates of unionization. Regardless of the veracity of this study by researchers at Northwestern and Rutgers Universities on behalf of the Workplace Justice Lab, it will be used as the academic rationale to pass pending ordinances targeting the industry at the LA City Council as well as facilitate action by the new Fast Food Council. The industry should prepare accordingly.