Workest

Nearly 7 million U.S. workers will be seeing their pay go up starting January 1, 2020, thanks to the continuing push to raise the minimum wage. While only a handful of states and municipalities have reached the $15 minimum wage goal set by living wage activist groups, nearly half of the U.S. state enacted some sort of pay raise in 2019. Restaurant owners have coped by raising prices or cutting worker hours, while experts attribute the continuing popularity the pay hike to the historically tight labor market.

If your New Year’s resolutions involve kicking bad habits — or kicking employees with bad habits — you’re in good company. U-Haul announced that they will no longer hire employees who use tobacco products in accordance with the laws in many states. U-Haul claims to be the first major company to go nicotine-free in an attempt to promote workplace health and wellness, although the policy will not impact current workers.

A new law in California that aims to protect gig workers from unfair labor practices is already changing the way that many smaller companies do business. The law heavily restricts the way that businesses can use California-based independent contractors or freelancers and many SBOs are either hiring them as full-fledged employees or turning to independent contractors outside the Golden State.