Wages
U.S. Senate – Senators Chris Coons and Angus King sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) asking for changes to the pending Service Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (SITCA). Among other things, the senators are calling for changes to the proposed tip rate eligibility threshold, maintaining the current employee audit shield, and moving the proposed 3-year lockdown provision down to a 1-year compliance period. More details.
Longmont, CO – The city council discussed raising their local minimum wage, potentially along with other Boulder County municipalities. Longmont is a member of the Boulder County Consortium of Cities. Many of the consortium’s members are interested in collaborating to study, engage, and potentially enact a regional minimum wage across participating jurisdictions in Boulder County. The work group includes representatives from Boulder County, Boulder, Louisville and Longmont. No votes were taken. More details.
Paid Leave
Pennsylvania – Legislation advanced out of a house committee that would create a paid family and medical leave program for the state. The program would allow from 12-20 weeks of paid time off in case of illness or caregiving to others. The program would be funded through employee and employer contributions. Chances for final passage are unclear. More details.
Labor Policy
California – Legislation advanced out of the senate that would establish new workplace violence prevention standards in the state. Among other things, it would prohibit employers from “maintaining policies that require employees to confront active shooters or suspected shoplifters.” It also would require all non-healthcare employers to provide active shooter training to workers. Additionally, it would require employers to maintain a violent incident log of all violent incidents against employees including post-incident investigations and response, include, as part of the existing Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP), an assessment of staffing levels as a cause for workplace violence incidents and require employers to include an evaluation of environmental risk factors in their workplace violence prevention plan. More details.
Maine – Legislation is on its way to the governor that would make Maine the fourth state (Connecticut, Oregon, and Minnesota) to pass a ban on captive audience meetings. The bill prohibits an employer from “discharging, disciplining or otherwise penalizing or threatening to discharge” a worker who declines to receive a communication or attend a meeting about religious or political matters. The bill provides an exemption for religious employers. The governor has ten days to sign or veto the bill or allow the bill to become law without her signature. More details.
New York – Captive audience legislation unanimously advanced out of the assembly rules committee. The bill prohibits employers from coercing employees into attending or participating in meetings sponsored by the employer concerning the employer’s views on political or religious matters, including union organizing. More details.
Labor Activism
Barnes & Noble – Employees of a Brooklyn store have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct a unionization election. Roughly 30 workers at the unit have already signed authorization cards in order to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and notified management of their intention to unionize. The Board is currently examining the cards and if approved, it will set an election date. More details.
Colectivo Coffee – Workers in Wisconsin and Illinois ratified their first union contract by a 95 percent margin. Colectivo’s Milwaukee and Madison area workers are represented by IBEW Local 494, with Chicago-area workers represented by IBEW Local 1220. The partnership between the two locals is known as the Colectivo Collective. The ratification vote comes nearly 15 months after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final decision that the IBEW was properly elected as the certified bargaining representative for Colectivo’s employees. More details.
Scheduling
Chicago, IL – On July 1, the city’s Fair Workweek Ordinance will go into effect. It will require certain employers to provide workers with predictable work schedules and compensation for changes. Employees are covered by the ordinance if they work in one of seven “covered” industries (Building Services, Healthcare, Hotels, Manufacturing, Restaurants, Retail, and Warehouse Services), earn less than or equal to $30.80/hour or earn less than or equal to $59,161.50/year, and the employer has at least 100 employees globally (250 employees and 30 locations for a restaurant). Covered employees are given advance notice of work schedule, the right to decline previously unscheduled hours, 1 hour of predictability pay for any shift change within 14 days, and the right to rest by declining work hours less than 10 hours after the end of previous day’s shift. More details.
Evanston, IL – The city enacted a Fair Workweek Ordinance effective Sept. 1, 2023. Covered restaurants include businesses licensed to serve food that also have 30 locations and at least 200 employees in the aggregate, but does not include businesses with three (3) or fewer locations in Evanston that are owned by one employer and are operating under a franchise agreement; Among the provisions is the requirement that the employer provide a new hire a good faith estimate of the employee’s work schedule for the first 90 days of employment, including good faith estimates of average weekly hours, days, and shifts (including on-call shifts). Additionally, it calls for 14-day advance notice, compensation for shift changes, right of first refusal for additional hours before hiring more workers and extensive record keeping. More details.
Alcohol
Connecticut – Legislation is on its way to the governor making cocktails to-go permanent. The current law allowing for the policy was set to expire next summer. The governor is expected to sign the bill. More details.
Illinois – The governor signed legislation extending the current cocktails to-go law. The current law was set to expire on Jun. 1 of 2024 but the new measure will extend that to Aug. 1, 2028. More details.
Sustainability
SEC – The Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed reporting rules that would require public companies to include a raft of climate data in their audited financial statements have been delayed until this fall. The original rule was released in March of 2022 but the agency has received over 10,000 comments asking for changes causing the delay. The mandated disclosures cover everything from costs caused by wildfires to the loss of a sales contract because of climate regulations, such as a cap on carbon emissions. After the backlash to the climate proposals, officials are considering changes such as a higher trigger for disclosure and using different percentages depending on the financial item in question. Under this scenario, effective dates for any final rule could be pushed into 2025. More details.
Berkeley, CA – The city attorney filed a petition against an April ruling that cities do not have the authority to prohibit natural gas hookups from being installed in new buildings. Earlier this year, a federal appeals panel overruled the city’s ban on natural gas hookups passed in 2019 making Berkeley the first city to prohibit natural gas connections in new buildings. The California Restaurant Association challenged Berkeley’s ban in federal court, arguing that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempts local regulation of gas appliances and a three-judge panel sided with the CRA. The city attorney is now requesting an “en banc” rehearing with new judges. En banc is French for “on the bench,” which means that all judges of a particular court will hear a case in a particularly complex or important area. An en banc panel in the Ninth Circuit would consist of 11 randomly selected judges, including the chief judge. No decision has yet been made regarding a rehearing. More details.
Key Takeaways
- The new blue trifecta in Minnesota delivered major victories for the labor community in the closing weeks of session. Policymakers approved a package of labor of union-backed bills that banned non-compete agreements, approved a paid leave program, banned captive audience meetings, and strengthened organizing protections in various industries, including but not limited to meatpacking, healthcare, teaching, and warehouse work. If it hasn’t already, the employer community needs to recognize that Minnesota is likely to serve as a laboratory for the labor community on a moving-forward basis.
- The momentum behind sectoral bargaining continues to intensify. Last week, we reported on the creation of an industry standards board for hospitality workers at Detroit’s sports venues. In nearby Minnesota, the governor just signed legislation creating a statewide standards board for nursing home workers which will set wage and benefit standards for that industry. The board, in many ways, resembles the one proposed under the FAST Act. It will have three representatives for nursing home employers, three for workers, and one from each relevant government agency, and it will issue its report on minimum industry standards by Aug. 2024. Labor community activists are looking at Minnesota as the model they will pursue across the country attacking many industries, with restaurants and hospitality at the top of the list.
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.