“We have… formed the preliminary view that all employees should have access to unpaid family and domestic violence leave.” This declaration from the Australian Fair Work Commission acknowledges that medical, legal, housing, childcare, and financial needs might arise or change in the wake of violence. Although the announcement comes as part of the Fair Work Commission’s rejection of a bolder proposal, unions hail the announcement as a world-first.
Young men’s working hours dropped more sharply than older men’s between 2000 and 2015, and young men spent a huge portion of their new leisure time playing video games. Modeling demand for leisure, the National Bureau of Economic Research comes to a surprising conclusion: video games are not just a time-filler for the un- and under-employed; video games are actively enticing young American men away from work. The New York Times recaps the working paper.
Starting with the class of 2020, students in Chicago public schools will have to prove that they have a job, college acceptance, apprenticeship, commitment to the military, or other plan in order to graduate from high school. Critics of this new requirement point to Chicago’s tight labor market. They also highlight that the mandate comes with no monetary support—Mayor Emanuel calls for philanthropic and business funding—and might position for-profit colleges to benefit at students’ expense.
JD Supra surveys conflicting data about the impact of increased minimum wage on earnings, and then conjectures that minimum wage hikes are pushing restaurants towards mechanization. Shake Shack offers some support for this assertion: the burger joint’s new CFO seems focused on technology as a way of addressing rising labor costs, among other challenges.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
November 24
Labor leaders criticize tariffs; White House cancels jobs report; and student organizers launch chaperone program for noncitizens.
November 23
Workers at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority vote to authorize a strike; Washington State legislators consider a bill empowering public employees to bargain over workplace AI implementation; and University of California workers engage in a two-day strike.
November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.