Election 2016: State-Level Labor Law Changes

Continuing our coverage of the 2016 election’s impact on labor laws – which we started at the city level with Berkeley, Calif., last week – here’s a look at what’s happening in the states.

Minimum Wage

Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington approved measures to increase their state’s respective minimum wages, effective Jan. 1, 2017:

• Arizona: $10 per hour, increasing incrementally to $12 in 2020
• Colorado: $9.30 per hour, increasing incrementally to $12 in 2020
• Maine: $9 per hour, increasing incrementally to $12 by 2020
• Washington: $11 per hour, increasing incrementally to $13.50 by 2020

And in South Dakota, voters declined a ballot to reduce the minimum wage for youth workers. As a result, they will continue to receive the same minimum wage as non-youth workers.

Posting Requirements

Arizona, Colorado and Maine will require updated minimum wage postings, which employers must display for their employees. GovDocs is monitoring the release of these updated postings, which are not yet available.

Washington doesn’t list the minimum wage amount on its required posting; GovDocs will continue to monitor whether the state produces an update.

Paid Sick Leave

In addition, Arizona and Washington both passed statewide paid sick leave laws:

• Arizona: Effective July 1, 2017 and requires a posting for employers to display in each location.
• Washington: Effective Jan. 1, 2018, and as of now, doesn’t have an explicit posting requirement. However, since the law requires rule creation and implementation, this requirement may change. We will continue to monitor this, as well.