The Department of Labor has published a proposed change to the rules around tip pooling. In 2011, the Obama Administration clarified the Fair Labor Standards Act regulations to reflect the Wage and Hour Division’s long-standing policy – based on 1974 FLSA amendments – that employers could never require staff to share tips, regardless of whether the employer paid a tipped or full minimum wage. The Trump Administration now proposes to repeal the Obama-era rule. While the restaurant industry welcomes repeal, which is consistent with the position they have taken in litigation over the 2011 rule, critics observe that it will leave wait staff with less take-home pay: employers are now free to require tipped workers, such as bartenders, to subsidize the pay of “back of the house” staff, such as bus boys, or to keep the tips for themselves, as long as they pay tipped workers at least $7.25 per hour. Saru Jayaraman of the Restaurant Opportunities Center United points out that tipped workers are majority women, and employer control over tips would exacerbate their vulnerability.
In the New York Times’ opinion pages, Sallie Krawcheck reacts to recent coverage of workplace sexual assault by connecting workplace sexual assault and gender bias to the overrepresentation of men in private sector leadership. Studies show that this homogeneity at the top hurts a company’s bottom line. The Associated Press shows a second way that business leaders are reacting to recent reporting on sexual harassment: many more companies plan to have alcohol-free holiday parties this year than last.
In May of this year, Uber cut prices in Nigeria by 40%. Drivers responded by protesting and by moving en masse to the Estonian ride sharing app Taxify, which takes less commission. Holdouts at Uber were reportedly told that they could qualify for an additional payment to compensate for the 40% cut, but only if they accepted 80% of requests and drove one trip per two hours. The LA Times reports on the aftermath of these changes—and their impact on drivers in the precarious position of renting the cars they drive for work.
Three years after Chicago passed an ordinance gradually raising the minimum wage to $13 per hour in 2019, the Chicago Tribune finds that enforcement has been limited. The city exempts from the ordinance workers like security guards, barbers, nail technicians, and locksmiths, who are regulated by Illinois. Pay outs are not big enough to incentivize much enforcement by private attorneys, and the city has not allocated significant resources to enforcement. The workers’ rights organization Arise Chicago is advocating for creation of a city office specifically dedicated labor standards. The city is working to improve language access.
Daily News & Commentary
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June 27
Labor's role in Zohran Mamdani's victory; DHS funding amendment aims to expand guest worker programs; COSELL submission deadline rapidly approaching
June 26
A district judge issues a preliminary injunction blocking agencies from implementing Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining for federal workers; workers organize for the reinstatement of two doctors who were put on administrative leave after union activity; and Lamont vetoes unemployment benefits for striking workers.
June 25
Some circuits show less deference to NLRB; 3d Cir. affirms return to broader concerted activity definition; changes to federal workforce excluded from One Big Beautiful Bill.
June 24
In today’s news and commentary, the DOL proposes new wage and hour rules, Ford warns of EV battery manufacturing trouble, and California reaches an agreement to delay an in-person work mandate for state employees. The Trump Administration’s Department of Labor has advanced a series of proposals to update federal wage and hour rules. First, the […]
June 23
Supreme Court interprets ADA; Department of Labor effectively kills Biden-era regulation; NYC announces new wages for rideshare drivers.
June 22
California lawmakers challenge Garmon preemption in the absence of an NLRB quorum and Utah organizers successfully secure a ballot referendum to overturn HB 267.