Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

Wage and hour roundup

  • “President Obama says there is ‘no solid evidence’ [that higher minimum wages kill jobs]. Yes there is — lots of it.” [Tyler Cowen channeling David Neumark etc.] “The minimum wage arose in the early 20th century as a Progressive policy designed to [harm] low-wage workers,” and it worked [Deirdre McCloskey]
  • “The car wash industry: a case study of how the $15 minimum wage will destroy immigrant jobs” [Jim Epstein, Reason] “Weak Enforcement Will Blunt the Impact of New York’s $15 Minimum Wage” [same] District of Columbia jumps with its own $15 law [Charles Hughes, Cato]
  • Ugly Betty, stranded in Queens? New overtime edict could cut off entry-level jobs in fields like fashion journalism [New York Times] New overtime regs draw fire from one left-leaning group whose own paid canvassing operations are affected, PIRG (Public Interest Research Group);
  • New York attorney general, in legal action, seeks to hold Domino’s liable for franchisees’ alleged wage underpayment [Reuters]
  • Millions of workers had better get used to time sheets or corresponding apps from now on [Bill Pokorny, SHRM via Steve Miller on Twitter] Travel time will make an added complication [Daniel Schwartz] A “‘deer-in-the-headlights moment’ for small businesses” [Akin Oyedele, Business Insider]
  • Will Republicans in Congress block the overtime rule? [Connor Wolf, Daily Caller] Or will Congress take the less principled step of merely exempting itself? [Veronique de Rugy, earlier]

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5 Comments

  • I seem to remember that PIRG gets a large amount of its funding from college students who are assessed a few dollars to support it. They can just raise that “donation” and teach the students a valuable lesson in economics.

    • By Rxc

    • Apparently, they are channeling that money to lobbying and wouldn’t give my brother a written budget, just some approximate numbers. They got kicked out of the university because people had 4 years to notice their BS while working on their BS. They are still at the community college. Students too busy working and studying to notice it.

  • I’m pretty convinced there’s no business case for the $15 minimum wage. But imagine how much more tax money can be skimmed off a higher wage. I think that’s big part of the Progressive push here.

    • Eh, I doubt it. The extra taxes would be coming from the lower-waged people, and that’s not really what they want. And I doubt they’ve thought far enough ahead to the middle-class tax increase that would result from inflation. Not everything is a plot.

  • @ David C ” The extra taxes would be coming from the lower-waged people, and that’s not really what they want.”
    Your innocence in endearing. I feel like having a quilting bee and a shindig both in the same evening. You should come over.
    These are mercenary politicians at the top of their game. And it’s an election year.