Denver Eyeing Minimum Wage Increase, Future of Work, plus Contracting Ebola is not ADA Protected
Welcome to the Small Business Run Down. Each day, we bring you stories that impact small business owners and their workforce.
Today: Denver prepares to join the growing list of places raising the minimum wage, the Future of Work in America, navigating sales tax online and why the ADA doesn’t protect your from contracting Ebola. TGIF, AMIRITE?
Denver pols propose minimum wage increase
A joint proposal by a Denver councilwoman and the Mile High City’s mayor would land the Colorado capital on the growing list of U.S. locales raising the minimum wage. The bill seeks to raise wages for approximately 100,000 workers across the city, but the city’s mall business owners aren’t sure that the benefits will outweigh the consequences and are already beginning to look for ways to offset the increase in operating costs ahead of the proposal becoming law.
The Number: $13.80. The legislation would take a stepwise approach, raising the current minimum wage to $13.80 by January 1, 2020 and then up to $15.87 by the following January 1.
The Quote: “I agree with what Mayor Hancock is doing, but I don’t particularly like it.”
The future of work in the US: New study shows “multiple Americas” on divergent trajectories
A new study by McKinsey goes beyond the economic indices and paints a complex picture of the future of work in America in an attempt to explain growing anxiety on the part of U.S. workers. Some key findings? There are “multiple Americas” and some of them are doing much better than others. Also: poorly trained workers much more likely to be left behind. (Train your talent!)
The Number: 5%. According to the study, 5% of current jobs in the U.S. will be fully automated by 2030.
The Quote: “The old model of front-loading education early in life needs to give way to lifelong learning. Training and education can no longer end when workers are in their twenties and carry them through the decades. Employers will be the natural providers of training and continuous learning opportunities for many workers.”
NH & SD senators lead charge to protect SMBs from sales tax for online transactions
If your business was impacted by last year’s Supreme Court decision in South Dakota vs. Wayfair, Inc. you might be relieved to know that elected officials are working on your behalf!
Senators from New Hampshire and South Dakota have introduced a bill to give some online sellers until 2021 to start collecting taxes and to protect small businesses across the country from having to collect the taxes at all.
The Number: 200. “Today, almost every state requires online businesses to collect sales tax once retail sales pass a certain level. A common threshold is $100,000 dollars in sales or 200 separate transactions.”
The Quote: “This bill will say that small businesses across the nation, those that have less than $10 million in sales, do not have to collect sales taxes for the 10,000 taxing jurisdictions across the country.”
Right to contract Ebola and keep your job not covered by ADA
If you’re thinking of going into an Ebola hot zone and want to make sure that you’ll have a job if you come home sick … the short answer is: NO.
In a case that came before the 11th Circuit Court, an employer terminated an employee based on their belief that a trip to Ghana could result in the employee contracting Ebola. While the court called the employers actions “deplorable,” they ultimately upheld the lower court’s ruling that the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect workers from “a potential future disability that a healthy person may experience later.”
