COVID-19
Study – A new study released by the University of South Florida finds that most working-age Americans who died of COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic were so-called “essential workers”. Essential workers primarily worked in labor, service, and retail jobs that required on-site attendance and prolonged contact with others. Researchers found that Americans who could not work from home and who worked in “low-paying jobs with few or no benefits,” such as paid sick leave and health insurance coverage, bore the brunt of deaths during the pandemic’s first year. More details.
Wages
Study – The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) released the findings of a report of 300 top US companies that found the average gap between CEO and median worker pay jumped to 670-to-1 (meaning the average CEO received $670 in compensation for every $1 the worker received) in 2021. At more than a third of the companies surveyed, IPS found that median worker pay did not keep pace with inflation. The report comes amid a wave of unionization efforts among low wage workers and growing scrutiny of many corporate stock buyback programs. More details.
Paid Leave
Illinois – The governor signed legislation expanding the state’s existing paid leave law. The new law – the Family Bereavement Act – requires employers in the state to provide for two weeks of unpaid leave for employees who experience a miscarriage, an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or other assisted reproductive procedure, a failed or non-finalized adoption match, a failed surrogacy agreement, a diagnosis affecting fertility, or a stillbirth. Employees can also utilize this time off to support a spouse or partner experiencing one of these losses. More details.
Maine – A state commission was formally organized to develop and implement a paid family and medical leave benefits program for the state. Created by legislation passed last year, the members will include lawmakers, business owners, health care professionals, and others. The commission is expected to issue a report of its findings and recommendations by early Nov., which provides time for legislation to be filed for the 2023 legislative session. More details.
Labor Policy
EEOC – President Biden nominated Karla Gilbride, a high-profile civil rights lawyer whose work has focused on combating companies’ use of mandatory arbitration to handle workers’ and consumers’ legal claims, to be the top lawyer at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC enforces federal laws banning workplace discrimination. The general counsel’s office investigates worker complaints and can sue companies that refuse to settle bias claims found to have merit. The nomination requires Senate confirmation. More details.
Labor Department – The agency announced that it will start drafting a rule on determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor not covered by the federal law that governs minimum wage, overtime pay, and other benefits. The regulation, which could have significant ramifications for independent contractors and the companies that employ them, comes just months after Washington state became the first to successfully enact protections for its Uber and Lyft drivers without reclassifying them as employees. The agency has not made public its plans for this rulemaking, but earlier efforts were aimed at rolling back the Trump administration’s prioritization of two factors – the nature and degree of workers’ control over their work and the opportunity for profit or loss – in determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. The timing for the rulemaking is unclear but an employer forum will be held June 24, and a worker forum will be held June 29. More details.
California – Next Monday, the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment & Retirement will hold a hearing on AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards (FAST) Recovery Act. Previously scheduled hearings have been delayed each of the last two weeks. Among other provisions, it would create a Fast Food Sector Council that would establish wage and benefit rates and other workplace standards for quick service restaurants. This concept – often referred to as sectoral bargaining – is popular among labor advocates. It will likely pass out of this committee but there are at least two other committee stops before going to the senate floor. More details.
New York – Legislation is on its way to the governor’s desk requiring employers to disclose compensation or range of compensation to applicants and employees upon issuing an employment opportunity for internal or public viewing or upon employee request. It mandates that employers with four or more employees post the range of compensation for any job, promotion or transfer opportunity. The legislation, which includes some record-keeping requirements, dictates that applicants and employees be advised of the specific salary or at a minimum, a range of compensation, for any posted job, promotion or transfer opportunity that the employer “in good faith believes to be accurate at the time of posting.” The governor is expected to sign. More details.
Labor Activism
Starbucks – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced it has filed 57 charges against the company alleging unfair labor practices, including the unlawful firing of some workers involved in union organizing. Perhaps the most watched development is a company decision to close an Ithaca-area location. The company has notched a few wins recently, including a court decision this week against the NLRB, finding that Starbucks did not have to reinstate workers at an Arizona store. The company also won three of four Chicago-area elections. However, the company lost many more across the country over the past week or so. To date, 286 stores in 38 states are in the process of holding a union election with 135 units having voted to unionize, 17 having rejected the union, and eight outcomes still undecided. More details.
Sustainability
Colorado – The governor signed legislation making Colorado the latest state to pass an extended producer responsibility (EPR) law for packaging. The EPR program, which could start in 2026, will be operated and funded by producers who join a nonprofit producer responsibility organization. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will oversee it, with input from an advisory board of recycling stakeholders. Producers will now pay dues each year to fund a statewide recycling program. In Colorado’s version of EPR, producers pay annual membership dues to the producer responsibility organization based on the amount and type of packaging or paper they use. Fees go toward funding new or improved recycling services, and residents can keep using their usual recycling services if they wish, according to the bill. The new law also includes unique provisions for processing compostable packaging. More details.
Key Takeaways
- Both studies noted above – the COVID-19 study from the University of South Florida and the executive pay disparity study from the Institute for Policy Studies – would likely have gone largely unnoticed in an average year. However, in the current environment with unprecedented unionization fervor among front-line employees, the studies will certainly be incorporated into ongoing unionization campaigns further validating union arguments. In particular, the Starbucks and Amazon campaigns were largely fueled by the perception of employer indifference to workers’ health and safety concerns during the pandemic. The COVID study, regardless of its accuracy, validates those assertions. Both studies will likely be leveraged by union organizers far more effectively than in the past.
- Brands should not discount the importance of the nomination of Karla Gilbride to be the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s next general counsel. Gilbride has an expansive record of suing big-name companies for alleged employment violations ranging from arbitration rights, Covid-19 safety protocols, wage and hour disputes, and employment discrimination. She would be filling a role that’s been vacant since President Biden fired the agency’s Trump-appointed general counsel, Sharon Gustafson, in March 2021. If confirmed, Gilbride would be the final piece needed for the workplace antidiscrimination enforcement agency to execute progressive policy measures that have been under consideration for more than a year. Brands should prepare accordingly.
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 Restaurant Business online website, SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.