Maryland minimum wage goes up and new laws take effect
Maryland’s minimum wage is going up.
The new $10.10 an hour wage went into effect Sunday.
It’s the last of the phased-in increases that were set by Maryland lawmakers in 2014. The first increase from $7.25 to $8 took place in 2015. It increased three times after that, to $8.25 in July 2015, to $8.75 in July 2016 and $9.25 last July.
Some lawmakers have pushed for increasing the minimum wage again, but the legislation stalled this year. Ben Jealous, the Democratic candidate for governor, supports increasing the minimum wage to $15.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
Delaware lawmakers approve $1 minimum wage increase
Delaware lawmakers have narrowly passed a bill raising the state’s minimum wage after similar legislation was defeated in the Senate earlier this year.
The bill cleared the Senate late Saturday by one vote, followed by a similar one-vote margin several hours later in the House.
No Republican voted for the measure, with GOP lawmakers decrying the rushed vote shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday with no committee hearing and no chance for the business community and other members of the public to weigh in.
Source: The Washington Post
National Minimum Wage implementation date to be announced in ‘Due Course’
Workers will have to wait a little longer before they earn a minimum wage of R20 an hour or R3,500 a month.
Deputy President David Mabuza told Parliament on Monday that the national minimum wage implementation date will be announced and publicised in “due course”, while the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) finalises the matter.
In a written parliamentary reply, Mabuza says the NCOP’s select committee will be considering three labour matters, which include the National Minimum Wage Bill.
Source: Eyewitness News
South Africa sets first-ever minimum wage
A minimum wage, of 20 rand ($1.59) per hour, has been set in South Africa for the first time in the country’s history.
Supporters of the bill say the new wage will reduce inequality and boost economic growth as it will encourage more spending. A 2016 commission, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, found that just under 50% of employed South Africans earned less than the new minimum wage.
Following this, South Africa’s government voted overwhelmingly in favour of passing the new minimum wage bill, with the expectation that it will help the lowest paid workers, including almost 75% of farm and domestic workers.
Source: IZA World of Labour
Maternity protection in the workplace
Every second Sunday of May, we honour and pay tribute to our mothers for their strength, resilience and the pivotal role they play in shaping us into the people we are today.
From a legal standpoint, we may also pay tribute to mothers in a way that extends beyond the purely personal sphere. The Philippines has an obligation to pass measures—at a national level—to strengthen the social protection of women workers, specifically as regards maternity protection at the workplace.
Our country falls below regional and international standards in terms of statutory paid maternity leave. Based on a 2012 report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), our country grants one of the fewest paid maternity leave days, compared with its Southeast Asian neighbours. Existing Philippine laws grant only 60 days of paid maternity leave for women who undergo normal childbirth, and 78 days for those who deliver via caesarian section.
In contrast, Vietnam grants expectant mothers 180 days of paid maternity leave, while Singapore grants 112 days’ leave. Myanmar grants 98 days’ paid leave, in line with the recommended number of paid maternity leave days under Convention 183 of the ILO.
Source: The Manila Times
LABOUR BUZZ: National minimum wages effective May 1, 2018
The time arrived on May 1st, 2018 and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) became law in South Africa. Jubilation for many workers and unions but the serious concern in how to keep business doors open for many employers.
Employers that cannot afford the increase MUST apply online for exemption. Applications for exemptions do not make provision for manual submission and the process can only be accessed via the NMW website www.nmw.dol.gov.za which should have been running since March 2018 to allow applications. I have attempted to access this online application system but with no success.
However, to assist employers a lot of confusion seems to be around the following, wages need to be implemented effective 1 May 2018.
Source: Estcourt and Midland News
Daily minimum wage is set as 4800 Kyats for workers of Myanmar
The Government of Myanmar has fixed 4,800 Kyats as there new daily minimum wage for labourers to reduce poverty and inequality and to strengthen democracy and promote sustainable development.
The National Committee Minimum Wages proclaimed that the Minimum Wages applies to private business which has around 10 workers but not small and family-owned companies with less than 10 workers.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar government has also announced raising the salary of civil servants across the country with effect from the month of April.
The Ministry of Planning and Finance stated that the current annual salary ranges will be hiked by 10 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
The workers wanted 5,600 kyats per day as their minimum wages but the National Committee for Minimum Wage decided to give 4,800 kyats per day as the Minimum Wages.
Source: Xinhuanet
Trump’s Government wants to reduce child labour laws
The Trump Government wants to reduce decades-old protections for America’s youngest workers by allowing teens to toil for long hours under some of the nation’s most treacherous workplace.
The Labor Department will propound relaxing current rules—known as Hazardous Occupations Orders — that bar 16- and 17-year-old apprentices and student learners from receiving extended, supervised training in certain dangerous jobs, sources told Bloomberg Law.
That includes roofing work, as well as operating chainsaws, and various other power-driven machines that federal law recognizes as too dangerous for youths younger than 18.
Source: New York Post
How Saudi labour law caters to women
It has been observed that labour law issues receive a wide response from employees and business owners. Mostly, employees and employers will refer to this system only when they need to, without paying attention to the small duties and rights.
I believe that both parties have rights and duties that they are unaware of which are very important and reflect directly on their performance. In this series on the Saudi labour system, we will talk briefly about the most important terms affecting the employee’s job and the employer’s decisions.
Therefore, the current focus is more on the empowerment of women and the great emphasis on their rights and equality with their male colleagues, owing to their impressive contribution in the wheel of Saudi development, and their significant efforts in the development of the national economy.
Source: Arab News
Business NZ says labour law changes will mean unions control conditions of the entire workforce
New Zealand’s corporate sector has stepped up its attack on proposed labour laws, saying it would put the control of conditions in the hands of a fraction of the workforce and undermine a move towards flexible working conditions.
Business New Zealand appeared before the Education and Workforce select committee in its hearings on the Employment Relations Amendment Act.
Kirk Hope, chief executive of Business NZ, said the law could breach privacy laws as well International Labour Organisation conventions ratified by the last Labour Government, around voluntary participation in collective bargaining.
“It’s certainly not great for business, it’s not going to be that great for workers and indeed it’s not going to be that good for New Zealand, frankly,” Hope told the select committee.
Source: Stuff.co
South Korea labour law cuts working week to 52 hours
A controversial new law in South Korea will limit the working week from a maximum of 68 to 52 hours.
The government says it will help work-life balance, but some businesses say it will make them less competitive.
Source: Aljazeera
More than 200,000 workers to get back pay after NMW investigations
In the 2017/18 financial year, HMRC investigators uncovered £15.6 million in underpayments to these workers, up from £10.9 million for more than 98,000 workers last year.
HMRC attributes this jump in non-payment cases to an online complaints service it launched last year, which led to a 132% increase in reports.
The Government is due to launch its annual advertising campaign to raise awareness of workers’ right to receive the national living wage or national minimum wage and point them towards an online resource where they can report underpayment.
On 1 April, the national living wage rate increased to £7.83 per hour for those aged 25 and over, while the national minimum wage rose to 7.38 per hour for those aged 21 to 24.
Source: Personnel Today
Farmworkers entitled to minimum wage for some tasks, high court says
Farmworkers in Washington who are being paid a piece-work rate must be paid minimum wage for the time they spend doing other tasks, a divided state Supreme Court said Thursday.
In response to a question from a federal judge, a bare majority of the court said the state’s minimum wage law plainly requires employers to pay their adult workers at least minimum wage for the hours worked. They can’t average the amount they get from piece-work with a lesser hourly wage for other tasks so that the weekly paycheck totals the amount that would be paid under minimum wage.
Source: Spokesman
New California Ruling Easy as ‘ABC’ to Determine Employee or Independent Contractor?
Los Angeles, California courts have been debating, defining and determining employment status—whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor– since 1989. Mis-classification has always been a grey area, despite California labour law holding for three decades the “Borello” standard. As of April 30, however, the new and more rigid “ABC test” is being used to identify disputes under wage orders. And experts say it will have far-reaching implications for the California workforce.
Independent contractor misclassification persists in all industries, from taxi drivers and truck drivers to cable installers and service industry workers. In California and many other states, it is presumed that workers are employees and not independent contractors, and the burden is on the employer to demonstrate that the worker is properly classified as an independent contractor.
Source: Lawyers and Settlements
Failing to pay the national minimum wage should be a criminal offence
Yet in 2017, the Low Pay Commission estimated that some 1.9 million jobs paid at or below the National Minimum Wage (NMW). This is likely to rise to 3.4 million by 2020. Currently, around 362,000 jobs earned less than the NMW. The picture worsens when it is noted that 20% of UK’s population earns less than the living wage.
Those most likely to be low paid to include women, the young, part-time and temporary employees, those in lower-skilled occupations, and those employed in the hospitality, retail and care sectors. Of course, men are not immune.
Source: Left Foot Forward
The new law will force 3,000 big companies to show they are stamping out slavery
The federal government will force 3,000 big companies to explain how they are stamping out modern slavery, a move welcomed by anti-slavery campaigners.
But unions and Labor say the changes will be “inadequate and ineffective” without the creation of an independent anti-slavery commissioner or penalties for corporations that breach their new requirements.
Source: The Guardian
How the United Kingdom protects its employees against discrimination
New regulations introduced under the UK Equality Law came into effect on April 5th. Now compliant under the new act, companies in the UK which employ 250 or more people are required to report the disparities in compensation statistics of men and women. The truth is that everybody expected wage disparity between the two sexes. After all, it is a centuries-old tradition.
The only question that had loomed was, “How much?” And the answer to that question is what has still managed to surprise.
Some high-level numbers to denote the gap:
- Average median pay gap between men and women is 12%
- A total of almost 8 in 10 companies pay men more than women in the UK
- Men form the majority of the highest pay quartile in 19 of the 21 areas of the private sector.
Source: People Matters
Ontario Finalizes Pay Transparency Act, 2018, Targeting Large Employers
As we reported in March of 2018, the Ontario government recently introduced legislation designed to create pay transparency by prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about pay history, requiring employers to report their pay practices to the Ministry of Labour, and authorizing the appointment of compliance officers to investigate whether employers have complied with the bill’s requirements, among other things.
The Ontario government recently passed Bill 3, the Pay Transparency Act, 2018, making Ontario the first province in Canada to enact pay transparency legislation. Bill 3 replaces the original Bill 203 that had been introduced in March 2018. The new Pay Transparency Act, 2018, clarifies several of the new rules that will apply to Ontario employers starting in 2019, with an initial focus on targeting larger businesses. But it also leaves a number of uncertainties that will need to be clarified in future regulations (i.e., rules made by the government outside of the formal lawmaking process).
Source: Lexology
Rwandan trade unions in the fresh appeal for minimum wage on Labor Day
Rwanda’s trade unions on Tuesday made a fresh appeal for the government at the national Labor Day celebrations to expedite setting up of a new minimum wage.
There is need to fast-track Rwandan trade unions in fresh appeal the setting up of a new minimum wage as part of efforts to improve relations between workers and employers in the country, said Martin Rugema, head of Rwanda Workers Trade Union Confederation, in Rubavu district, western Rwanda.
Workers in the informal sector in rural areas need at least 87,000 Rwandan francs (101 U.S. dollars) minimum wage while those in urban areas need a minimum wage of at least 126,000 Rwandan francs (147 U.S. dollars), according to a survey of the trade union Labor Congress and Workers’ Brotherhood in Rwanda.
Source: Xinhuanet
NJ’s Equal Pay Act, FLSA Opt-Ins, “Ambush Election” Rule, Guidance on New Tax Credit
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Source: Jdsupra
Philippine President Duterte signs an order banning ‘illegal’ short-term labour
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday (May 1) signed an executive order banning employ-on-contract practices, even as tens of thousands of workers marked Labour Day with a huge rally to call him out for reneging on a key campaign promise.
Ending short-term labour was one of Mr Duterte’s many campaign promises. Two-thirds of the country’s 39 million to 40 million workforces are on short-term contracts, according to a 2016 government estimate.
Source: Straits Times
The long-standing issue of child labour in Africa
Africa has the world’s highest incidence rates of child labour with severe rates in sub-Saharan Africa where more than 40 per cent of all children aged 5–14 labour for survival, or about 48 million children.
As per the current status provided by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child labourers (29 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years). In the Middle East and North Africa, fewer than 1 in 10 (7 per cent) of children in this age group are performing potentially harmful work.
Source: Devdiscourse
Qatar sets best standards for the welfare of workers
Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, H E Dr Issa bin Saad Al Jafali Al Nuaimi has said that Qatar is having the best standards for workers’ welfare as it has updated most of the labour legislation to comply with the best international standards.
The Minister said that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has become a strategic partner, especially after opening an office in Qatar. “Qatar has become a role model in the workers’ welfare,” he said while speaking at the 5th Labour and Workers Conference organised by Dar Al Sharq to mark the Workers’ Day at Marsa Malaz Kempinski Hotel yesterday.
Meanwhile, ILO has confirmed that Qatar made remarkable advancement to ensure the rights of workers. “The realisation of the fundamental principles and rights at work is making significant progress in Qatar,” said Corrine Vergha, Director of the International Labour Standards Department at ILO while addressing the event.
Source: The peninsula Qatar.co
New Jersey Equal Pay Act Signed Into Law
On Tuesday, April 24, 2018, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (the “Act”), which amends the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“NJLAD”) to provide enhanced equal pay protections for New Jersey employees. The Act, which becomes effective on July 1, 2018, prohibits pay disparities based upon characteristics protected by the NJLAD, such as race, creed, colour, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex, etc. Specifically, the Act makes it an unlawful employment practice “[f]or an employer to pay any of its employees who is a member of a protected class at a rate of compensation, including benefits, which is less than the rate paid by the employer to employees who are not members of the protected class for substantially similar work, when viewed as a composite of skill, effort and responsibility.”
Source: National Law Review