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Richard R. Nelson
A number of major pieces of State legislation were enacted in 1991 covering several different aspects of employment standards.1 The greatest areas of concentration were the traditional subjects of minimum wage protection and the regulation of child labor. Legislation was also enacted on the emerging issue of employee leasing, and on other contemporary issues such as the right to parental leave, the prohibition on employment discrimination because of sexual orientation, and employee drug and alcohol testing.
Wages. Minimum wage protection was one of the most active issues in 1991. Rates increased under Federal law and in 29 States and 3 jurisdictions as the result of the new laws, wage orders, administrative actions, or as provided for in prior legislation.1 In addition, legislation was enacted providing for increases in 1992, in Hawaii and North Carolina. While most of the increase were to match the Federal $4.25 hourly rate that took effect on April 1, 1991, higher rates will be in effect on January 1, 1992, in Alaska, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Iowa, Oregon, Rhode Island, and the Virgin Islands. (After April 1, 1992, Hawaii and New Jersey will also exceed the Federal rate.)
Subminimum training wages for employees under age 20 were adopted in Nebraska, North Carolina, and Virginia; for those under 19 in West Virginia; and for those under 18 in North Dakota. A training wage provision in Montana was repealed. In South Dakota, minors under age 18 are now subject to the minimum wage law and must receive at least 75 percent of the basic minimum. Increases in youth rates were adopted in Maine and Utah.
This excerpt is from an article published in the January 1992 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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Footnotes
1 The Kentucky legislature met in special sessions only
and no labor legislation was enacted. Alabama, Guam, and the
Virgin Islands did not enact significant legislation in the
fields covered by this article. Separate articles on unemployment
insurance and workers' compensation, which are not within the
scope of this article, are published in this issue of the Monthly
Labor Review. This article is based on information received by
November 1, 1991.
1 Hourly minimum wage rates were increased as the result of news laws in Arkansas,k Montana, Nebraska, Virginia, and West Virginia. Revised wage orders increased rates in the District of Columbia and North Dakota, and revised mandatory decrees increased rates in Puerto Rico. The Utah rate was increased by administrative action. Rates increased as the result of prior legislation Federally, and in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Vermont.
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