Allow us to pat ourselves on the back for a moment. Prognosticating from 2013 into the future, we accurately predicted that in 2014 the Seattle Seahawks would win the Super Bowl and that the public would continue to strongly support minimum wage increases and paid sick leave laws. (Please politely ignore our Portland Trailblazers NBA championship prediction.)
This year voters in five states overwhelmingly supported an increased minimum wage, while voters in Massachusetts and three New Jersey and California cities adopted paid sick leave. These states and cities join a growing trend of support for “living wages” and paid sick leave laws. Earlier this year, for instance, Seattle approved a minimum wage of $15 per hour, while Portland implemented its paid sick leave law and California became the second of now three states to give its employees paid sick leave on a statewide basis (see our posts on Portland’s law here, and California’s law).Continue Reading Nostradamus, Minimum Wage, and Paid Sick Leave