Franklin Matters: MassBudget: Workers' Policies That Work For Everyone

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

MassBudget: Workers' Policies That Work For Everyone

MassBudget: Workers' Policies That Work For Everyone

September 3, 2019

The Importance of Improving Workers' Lives

September is here and many of us are preparing for the start of the school year and heading back to work after this Labor Day weekend. In honor of our nation's holiday celebrating the socioeconomic achievements of workers, here's a look at some of the workers' justice issues we have been focusing on in 2019:

In January 2019, the Massachusetts minimum wage increased from $11 to $12 per hour, the first of five annual steps on the way to $15 in 2023. This historic win will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers across the state, along with their families and communities.
Wage increases are vital to economic security. But workers need more than a raise, they need fair workweeks. Bills now before the Massachusetts Legislature would require large retail, food service, and hospitality employers to give their workers advanced notice of their schedules, time to rest between shifts, and access to more hours when they're available. Unstable scheduling practices affect household finances, health, and family well-being, and fixing the problem could help workers and businesses.
Hourly workers aren't the only ones demanding better schedules. Salaried workers are eligible for overtime, but outdated and confusing federal and state overtime laws make it easy for employers to require them to work 50 or more hours a week without paying them extra in overtime. MassBudget wrote about how modernizing the Massachusetts overtime law would grant new or stronger overtime protections to 435,000 salaried workers in Massachusetts, that's one out of four salaried workers.
Wage increases, fair workweeks, and modernized overtime protections are all important. But like all worker rights' protections, they need to be enforced. An innovative approach known as whistleblower enforcement could strengthen workers' ability to hold employers accountable in court - even if they've signed mandatory arbitration agreements. It could also provide the Attorney General's Fair Labor Division with much-needed funding for outreach and enforcement, and support a permanent grassroots infrastructure for education and enforcement of workplace rights.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.

MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER

1 STATE STREET, SUITE 1250

BOSTON, MA 02109