EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWS
By Dana Holle, GovDocs Counsel
Retail, hospitality, and healthcare employers face unique compliance challenges, from industry-specific minimum wages to paid sick leave and specialized posting requirements. This blog highlights recent trends and key updates to help employers stay compliant.
Keeping up with trends and employment law shifts can be a daunting task. In today’s employment law landscape, employers in certain industries must not only comply with laws applicable to all or most employers but also certain industry-specific requirements. While there are a wide range of industry-specific requirements in employment law, this article highlights notable labor law posting, minimum wage, and paid sick leave requirements in three industries: retail, hospitality, and healthcare.
Postings providing information on fair workweek laws are a recent trend in retail. Fair workweek laws, also called predictive scheduling, generally require employers to provide employees work schedules at least two weeks in advance, compensation for certain scheduling changes, and the right to rest. Most fair workweek laws require a labor law posting to be displayed in the workplace.
Currently, Oregon is the only state to pass a full predictive scheduling law. Oregon requires retail, hospitality, and food service employers who have 500 or more workers worldwide to display its Employee Work Schedules (Predictive Scheduling) posting at their businesses. Outside of Oregon, fair workweek laws are usually passed at the local level – the most recent jurisdiction being Los Angeles County.
Retail employers with 300 or more employees globally with workers who perform at least 2 hours of work a week within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County are required to display the jurisdiction’s fair workweek posting. Seattle, Chicago, and New York City, among others, all require certain retail employers to display fair workweek posters as well.
In addition to fair workweek, there are several individual postings that may be required for retail employers across the United States. For example, in California, there is a Wage Order required to be posted for the mercantile industry, or Wage Order No. 7. Under California law, “mercantile industry” means any industry, business, or establishment operated for the purpose of purchasing, selling, or distributing goods at wholesale or retail, including renting goods or commodities.
While there are not specific wages set for retail employees, Connecticut does have a minimum wage poster for the mercantile/retail trades. New York also releases an updated Apparel Industry Minimum Wage poster, which is required for employers in the apparel industry. Finally, New Jersey has an Apparel Registration Act posting that is required for employers in the apparel industry for retailers that specifically employ minors in the state.
Keep Informed
with GovDocs Employment Law News
The most recent, and arguably the most significant, minimum wage to take effect in the hospitality industry is California’s fast food worker minimum wage. Since April 1, 2024, all covered fast food restaurant employees must earn at least $20.00 per hour. In addition to the minimum wage change, a Fast Food Workers’ Minimum Wage poster supplement to the wage orders is also required to be posted by covered employers.
California’s Wage Orders 5 and 7, specifically for the Public Housekeeping and Mercantile industries, also updated last year with the new fast food worker wage. In addition to California, New York was the first state to pass a fast food worker minimum wage. However, since California’s hike in its fast food worker wage, no additional states have passed a similar law.
Employers in the hospitality industry must not forget about the tipped employee wage, which is also tracked in GovDocs Minimum Wage. Of note, Washington D.C. recently paused its tipped wage increase that was originally set to take effect on July 1, 2025. Subsequently, D.C.’s Mayor recently signed a bill to repeal Initiative 82, which was supposed to gradually eliminate the tipped employee wage in the District. On the flip side, Chicago has a similar law still in effect phasing out the tipped employee minimum wage, which increased to $12.62 on July 1, 2025. Chicago’s Labor Standards poster recently updated to include both the new wages as well.
Hotel employers also have paid sick leave requirements that are industry-specific. Two cities in California, Long Beach and Los Angeles, require hotel employers to provide sick leave to hotel workers. In Long Beach, covered hotel employers must provide at least five compensated days off per calendar year for sick leave at the hotel worker’s request. In Los Angeles, full-time hotel workers (working at least 40 hours per week) accrue at least 96/52 hours of compensated time off each week while those who work less than 40 hours per week receive compensated time off in proportional increments.
There has been an uptick in required food allergy posters for food service establishments in recent years. Notably, the GovDocs Labor Law Poster Program has added Food Allergy Awareness posters in Texas and Connecticut just last year to its offerings.
Texas requires the poster to be displayed by food service establishments. In Connecticut, the poster is required for hospitality employers who are class 2, 3, or 4 food establishments under Connecticut’s food code. Further, New York City and Michigan recently updated their Food Allergy posters to include a new allergen – sesame.
The most recent, and most significant, minimum wage to take effect in the healthcare industry is, again, California with its healthcare worker minimum wage rates taking effect on Oct. 16, 2024. Covered healthcare facilities must pay the applicable healthcare minimum wage rate to covered workers, currently ranging from $18.63 to $24.00, depending on the type of healthcare facility.
Before California, other states, including New York with its minimum wage for home care aides and New Jersey with its minimum wage for long-term care facility direct care staff, have also passed similar laws, but with a more limited scope in coverage. Healthcare worker minimum wage rates are also tracked by GovDocs, and the laws can be found within the Minimum Wage Solution.
Virginia has a unique industry-specific paid sick leave law for home healthcare employers. Effective back in 2021, healthcare employers with home healthcare workers working an average minimum of 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month are eligible to use paid sick leave and accrue it at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked. Healthcare employees may use paid sick leave for the following:
While employers may generally consider human trafficking posters to be required for rest stops, gas stations, and similar establishments, there are several jurisdictions that require human trafficking postings in healthcare. GovDocs, the labor law poster program adds human trafficking postings to its offerings when required for the healthcare industry, including them in the Intranet Poster Program as well. Of note, three jurisdictions have released new human trafficking posters required for certain healthcare facilities since 2024: Burbank, CA; Doral, FL; Delaware.
As shown in the highlights above, retail, hospitality, and healthcare employers not only need to comply with standard labor law posting, minimum wage, and paid leave requirements, but also industry-specific requirements that are tailored to the day-to-day operations of that specific industry. Whether its complying with fast food and healthcare worker minimum wage rates or paid sick leave laws for hotels to the variety of fair workweek, wage order, and human trafficking posters, a robust Employment Law Compliance Platform is essential to remain in compliance with these laws.
This Employment Law News blog is intended for market awareness only, it is not to be used for legal advice or counsel.
What is GovDocs?
GovDocs is a leading provider of employment law compliance solutions, empowering HR professionals to navigate complex, location-specific labor law postings, minimum wage requirements, and paid leave laws. GovDocs combines innovative technology with dedicated human-touch support to deliver worry-free compliance. Customers benefit from access to a centralized system, trusted resources, and expert employment law support they need, all in one place, to simplify compliance and protect their organization from risk. Trusted by over 35% of Fortune 500 companies, GovDocs focuses on comprehensive coverage of Federal, State, City, and County laws making employment law management seamless for organizations of all sizes. Join the evolution of employment law compliance here!
The GovDocs Poster Store simplifies posting compliance for employers with less than 30 locations across all industries, offering a variety of posting products to meet your labor law compliance needs.
Family Matters: What Does “Family” Mean Under Paid Leave Laws? 