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Category:Wage & Hour

The Tipped Subminimum Wage has Sexist and Racist Origins: It’s Time to End it

Feb 17, 2021 Andre Manuel

Following through on President Biden’s campaign promise, Congressional Democrats have proposed increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2026. The proposed law will finally eliminate the federal subminimum wage for tipped workers, which currently stands at $2.13. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which establishes the national minimum wage, also creates a […]

A Legal Challenge Against Racist Labor Exclusions Finds Life in Washington

Dec 15, 2020 Marina Multhaup

On November 5th the Washington Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that dairy workers are eligible for overtime pay. The Martinez-Cuevas decision could apply to all agricultural workers in Washington state. Materially this will improve the wages of farmworkers at a crucial time—seven months into a global pandemic where farmworkers, deemed “essential,” have been […]

Martinez-Cuevas: Reckoning with Labor Law’s Racist Roots

Aug 20, 2020 Marina Multhaup

The Washington Supreme Court is currently deliberating a case that could have major economic effects for our most vulnerable workers while beginning to unravel one long-standing piece of our nation’s white supremacist history. The case, Martinez-Cuevas v. Deruyter Brothers Dairy, has gone relatively uncovered by national media but speaks to the national moment that we’re […]

The State of Modern Child Labor

Apr 28, 2020 Rylee Pinter

In January, Chipotle Mexican Grill was fined $1.4 million for an estimated 13,000 Massachusetts child labor violations, the most significant child-labor case in state’s history. The violations, which occurred across six locations, were for employing minors beyond the maximum legal number of hours. Burger King, Qdoba, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s also paid fines for similar child labor […]

Tips and Benefits: Lessons from Israeli Law for the COVID Era

Apr 27, 2020 Jacki Silbermann

For years tipping has been widely criticized for its detrimental effects on workers, from wage insecurity to the racist and sexist dynamics that the practice can exacerbate. Tipping generates another problem, made salient by the present COVID-19 pandemic: It often undercuts wage-based benefits for workers, including unemployment compensation. Over 26 million unemployment claims have been […]

While the U.S. Expands UI, Some Governments Pay Wages to Keep Workers on Payroll

Apr 2, 2020 Jacob Denz

Expansion of unemployment insurance will be a major part of the U.S. government’s response to COVID-19’s disruption of the labor market, as Jason and Niki detailed last week. Reacting to record numbers of claims, many states are waiving or relaxing waiting periods, job search requirements, and other usual limitations on receipt of benefits. Meanwhile, the […]

The Shortcomings of Proposals for an Indexed, Living Minimum Wage

Feb 26, 2020 Ryan H. Nelson

Most of the leading Democratic candidates for President have argued for raising the federal minimum wage to $15.00 per hour to ensure that Americans working full-time can earn a living wage (as Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren have said). Moreover, all of these candidates have argued for indexing the federal minimum […]

The Fight for Fair Pay in New York’s Home Healthcare Industry

Jun 25, 2019 Amy Maurer

Home healthcare workers provide essential care to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Despite the important services these workers provide, jobs in the home care industry are generally characterized by low pay and difficult working conditions. On March 26, the New York State Court of Appeals, issued its decision in the joint […]

Uber, Overtime, and the Taxicab Exemption

May 6, 2019 Randon Herrera

As the debate over the employment status of Uber drivers continues, one employment benefit raises a set of questions not presented by the others: overtime pay. Uber has suggested that if it is forced to reclassify its drivers as employees, it will cap its drivers’ hours to escape having to pay time-and-a-half for overtime work. It […]

The DOL’s Proposed Joint Employer Rule: Frances Perkins Would not be Pleased

Apr 17, 2019 Kate Griffith

On April 1, 2019, the U.S. DOL proposed a new interpretation of joint employer liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). DOL’s four-factor test focuses exclusively on whether an entity “actually exercises the power to” hire and fire, supervise and control working conditions, determine rates and methods of payment and maintain employment records. This […]

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OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

OnLabor is a blog devoted to workers, unions, and their politics. We interpret our subject broadly to include the current crisis in the traditional union movement (why union decline is happening and what it means for our society); the new and contested forms of worker organization that are filling the labor union gap; how work ought to be structured and managed; how workers ought to be represented and compensated; and the appropriate role of government — all three branches — in each of these issues.

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The Tipped Subminimum Wage has Sexist and Racist Origins: It’s Time to End it

A Legal Challenge Against Racist Labor Exclusions Finds Life in Washington

Martinez-Cuevas: Reckoning with Labor Law’s Racist Roots

The State of Modern Child Labor

Tips and Benefits: Lessons from Israeli Law for the COVID Era

While the U.S. Expands UI, Some Governments Pay Wages to Keep Workers on Payroll

The Shortcomings of Proposals for an Indexed, Living Minimum Wage

The Fight for Fair Pay in New York’s Home Healthcare Industry

Uber, Overtime, and the Taxicab Exemption

The DOL’s Proposed Joint Employer Rule: Frances Perkins Would not be Pleased