HR Magazine quoted Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Adam Sencenbaugh in an article that looks at what employers need to know about approved ballot measures impacting the workplace in several states.
Here is an excerpt:
Starting Sept. 30, 2027, increases to Florida's minimum wage will be based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
The COVID-19 crisis curbed efforts to put minimum-wage hikes on the ballot in other states, observed Adam Sencenbaugh, an attorney with Haynes and Boone in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. "Similar efforts in Ohio and Idaho failed in large part because shelter-in-place orders made it much harder to safely obtain signatures needed to advance the measures," he said.
Sencenbaugh noted that Florida's minimum-wage increase passed with strong margins, which may encourage efforts to continue in other states.
Paid Family and Medical Leave
"Paid leave also continues to be popular with voters, as Colorado joined the handful of other states that mandate paid time off for employees," Sencenbaugh said.
Ballot Measures
Ballot initiatives allow citizens to vote on certain measures that are usually determined by the state legislature or local government. A citizen-initiated measure, which is allowed in about half the states, is put on the ballot after a petition is signed by a minimum number of registered voters. Another type of ballot measure is a legislative referendum, through which a state legislature may refer a measure to voters for approval.
The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for advocates to get ballot measures in front of voters this election cycle, Sencenbaugh noted.
To read the full article, click here.