News about current legislation affecting workplace rights before the U.S. Congress and the legislatures of all 50 states.
Please note that some articles may no longer be available on the source's website, or may not be accessible without payment of a fee, as different sites have different archive policies.
Select your state from the map below or from this list. (If your state does not have any court cases, then the page will not scroll down when you click on the state.)
Explosive workplace issue pits safety versus freedom
Source: Agustina Guerrero, Tampa Bay Business Journal, MSNBC.com
Date: February 5, 2006
Florida legislators are considering a bill that would make it a third-degree felony to ban guns
on company premises. Companies that currently prohibit firearms in the workplace are concerned. Companies have
to provide a safe workplace environment, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration
regulations. This bill would make that more difficult to fulfill, lawyers said. Homicides are one of the four
most frequent work-related fatal events, together with highway incidents, falls and being struck by an object,
data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows.
Minimum-wage boost will help many, economists say
Source: Sarah Hale Meitner, Sun-Sentinel
Date: November 4, 2004
The $1-an-hour minimum-wage increase Florida voters approved Tuesday
should put extra cash in the hands of the state's poorest employees, boosting both their productivity and
their retail purchasing power, economists say. Critics of the amendment--which raised Florida's minimum wage
from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour--argue it will ultimately force businesses to cut jobs and raise prices. But some
economists, citing evidence in 12 other states already operating with higher minimum-wage laws, say layoffs and
significant price increases are unlikely.
Voters give minimum-wage workers a pay hike
Source: Tom Bayles, Herald-Tribune
Date: November 3, 2004
Thousands of Floridians who earn minimum wage will get bigger paychecks because voters
overwhelmingly approved a $1 raise in the wage, from $5.15 to $6.15, on Tuesday. "This is really a huge victory
for Florida's working families," said Meghan Scott, communications director for Floridians For All, the group
that sponsored the measure. "Once people heard what Amendment 5 was and what it would do for Florida's working
poor, people really got it." Scott said the strong support for the measure across party lines meant voters saw
it as a moral issue as well as a boost to working families.
Weighing the cost of the minimum wage initiative
Source: Helen Huntley, St. Petersburg Times [Florida]
Date: August 9, 2004
A constitutional amendment on the ballot in November would set a state minimum wage at $6.15
an hour, trumping the federal minimum wage, which has been $5.15 an hour since 1997. It would take effect in
May. Only 3 percent of Florida workers make less than $6.15 an hour, but some of the state's business
interests worry the impact of the new minimum would reverberate far up the wage scale, forcing prices up and
profits down. They say it could result in fewer jobs. Supporters of the increase say it protects low-wage
workers who have little bargaining power as companies look for ways to drive down costs.
Battle lines drawn over plan to raise minimum wage
Source: Jeremy Cox, Naples Daily News [Florida]
Date: July 26, 2004
Advocates for raising the minimum wage in Florida had collected nearly a million signatures,
by their count. Business groups lined up in opposition. But few others took notice until the state Supreme
Court ruled 1˝ weeks ago that the proposed constitutional amendment should go on a ballot. Now, it is shaping
up to be one of the most emotional and complex issues on the November ballot. That's particularly true in
Southwest Florida, where the rarefied cost of living makes the region one of the toughest for the working
poor--those whom the proposal targets--to call home.
Transgender protection approved
Source: Casey Woods, Miami Herald
Date: July 11, 2004
The Miami Beach City Commission passed an amendment that
protects transgender people from discrimination, joining a fast-growing national trend toward such protections.
The Commission unanimously approved an amendment to the city's human rights ordinance that prohibits
discrimination against transgender people, a group that ranges from straight cross-dressers to drag queens to
those who have changed their gender through surgery.
County says no to 'living wage'
Source: Saundra Amrhein, St. Petersburg Times [Florida]
Date: June 17, 2004
The battle for a "living wage" went down to a 4-3 defeat Wednesday before the
Hillsborough County [Florida] Commission, following a testy exchange over which commissioner had personally
suffered the most in life. Commission Chairman Thomas Scott made the motion for a $9.97 minimum wage for all
county employees, as well as workers for certain private companies holding contracts with the county or
receiving tax abatements and subsidies.
Higher minimum wage rests on petition
Source: Rachel Pleasant, The Ledger [Florida]
Date: June 11, 2004
A petition proposing a $1 increase in Florida's minimum wage is making its way through the
state. The proposal would create a state minimum wage of $6.15, topping the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an
hour. Annual increases would also be imposed to help cover inflation. Before the wage bill, sponsored by St.
Petersburg-based Floridians For All PAC, can make it to the November ballot, 488,722 signatures must be
gathered. The deadline: Aug. 3. According to the state's division of elections, only 118,527 have been
collected. With the required signatures, the petition would still have to pass a series of approvals, including
one by the state Supreme Court, before voters would get a say in the matter.
Effort on to Set Minimum Wage in Florida
Source: David Sedore, Palm Beach Post
Date: May 12, 2004
A bid to establish a minimum wage in Florida has passed one threshold
but has a big one to go. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- better known as ACORN --
has gathered more than 75,000 signatures in its effort to amend the state constitution to include a minimum
wage of $6.15 an hour, a dollar more than the federal floor. The proposal also would build in annual increases
according to the inflation rate. Those are enough signatures to get the initiative language reviewed by the
Florida Supreme Court, but still short of the number needed to get the proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot.
New Workers' Comp Law Alarms Claimant Attorneys
Source: Christine Jordan Sexton, Miami Daily Business Review
Date: September 22, 2003
One night in September 1998, while working in the flower room of a Fort Lauderdale funeral home, a
42-year-old female employee was beaten, raped and held by an attacker for more than three hours. While the
Oakland Park woman's physical injuries were not severe and healed within a month, the attack left her with a
crippling fear that prevented her from leaving home alone, even to see a psychiatrist. Attorney Ramon Malca
represented the woman in her workers' compensation case. The funeral home's insurance carrier agreed to pay
her a $150,000 settlement. Malca, managing partner at Malca & Jacobs in Miami, a firm that focuses on
workers' comp cases, was awarded $22,000 in fees for three years of legal work on the case. But Malca says
that if the woman brought the same case to him after Oct. 1 -- when a new Florida workers' comp law takes
effect for people who are hurt on the job after that date -- he would have to reject the case for financial
reasons. "There'd be very little I could do for her," Malca said.
Source: Rachel LaCorte (AP), FindLaw Legal News
Date: September 17, 2003
As the last school year wound down, Fran Tankovich dreaded the thought that she would no longer be
teaching her high school art students, who ranged from natural talents to diamonds in the rough. At 60, she
faced mandatory retirement because she had signed up for a deferred retirement program five years ago. At the
time she enrolled, it meant more than $100,000 in extra pension money, an offer she called "too good to
refuse." But Florida lawmakers during the spring gave Tankovich and hundreds of other teachers facing the same
situation another chance to remain in the classroom and keep their extra retirement benefits.
Bush Links Pollution Measure to His Effort to Create Jobs
Source: Richard W. Stevenson, New York Times
Date: September 17, 2003
President Bush made a pitch today for his plan to reduce air pollution, and while he outlined the
environmental benefits, his focus was just as much on the issues that his advisers say are more likely than any
others to determine his chances at re-election: jobs and the economy. In a 21-minute speech in the East Garden
of the White House, Mr. Bush mentioned jobs or the economy at least 21 times, saying his plan for reducing
emissions from power plants and other major polluters would clean the air without driving up costs to business
so much that it would kill employment. Mr. Bush\'s proposal, which he calls the Clear Skies initiative, has
been stalled in Congress, and his appearance today with a group of state and local government officials,
business executives and other supporters was intended in part to put pressure on Congress to act.
No New Postings in Today's News Headlines Until 9/12
Source: Workplace Fairness
Date: September 4, 2003
Due to staff vacation,
there will be no posting of new entries in Today's News Headlines until September 12, 2003. Our daily
listings of workplace-related news articles will resume at that time.
States Scrutinize Wage Policies
Source: Pamela M. Prah, Stateline.org
Date: June 24, 2003
A handful of states are
debating raising their minimum wage beyond the federal rate of $5.15 an hour, but just as many states are
acting to block grassroots efforts to force government contractors to pay “living wages” that typically far
exceed the federal minimum wage.
Illinois is slated to boost its wage to $6.50 an hour under a measure
approved by the legislature that now awaits Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s (D) signature. But Florida and Texas
recently joined seven other states which expressly forbid local governments to pass living wage ordinances.
Bush Signs Bill Banning Smoking in Workplace Areas
Source: Brent Kallestad (AP), Naples Daily News
Date: June 24, 2003
In just
one week, smokers in Florida will find it more difficult to find a place to legally light up under a bill
demanded by the voters and signed into law Monday by Gov. Jeb Bush. Smokers will, however, be able to puff away
in so-called \"stand alone\" bars that serve \"incidental\" snacks, on outdoor patios at restaurants, at
membership associations and at designated smoking areas at airports. Bush signed the legislation (HB 63A) in
his office without fanfare. The new law takes effect July 1 and will be enforced by the Department of Health
and Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Governor [Bush] Signs Civil-Rights Bill
Source: Bill Cotterell, Tallahassee Democrat
Date: June 19, 2003
The state can
file civil-rights lawsuits against businesses suspected of using subtle forms of racial or gender
discrimination, under a law signed Wednesday by Gov. Jeb Bush. Attorney General Charlie Crist, who made the
statute the centerpiece of his 2003 legislative package, said the new law is needed because the blatant
discrimination of the segregation era - separate restrooms and movie theaters or white-only lunch counters -
are no longer seen in public places. But he said Florida law needed to be brought in line with the 1964 federal
statutes on public accommodation, to prevent incidents like one at a Perry lounge and package store where a
black Maryland legislator said he was told to use a side entrance and be served in a back room.
