The state you live in significantly influences the quality of your work life. So shows a new study from U.S. News & World Report that measures how friendly laws are to workers in the 50 states, plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
For decades, national, political and economic trends have increased the power employers have relative to workers, experts say. That remains true in 2018, which has seen several Supreme Court rulings favor corporations and salaries failing to keep pace with inflation, despite the low unemployment rate.
“While we’ve seen the corporate agenda advantaged, it’s been harder and harder for people to join a union and bargain collectively,” says Celine McNicholas, director of labor law and policy for the Economic Policy Institute.
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In the absence of federal regulations granting workers protections and rights, it falls to state governments to enact such laws. Some, including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, have passed nearly full slates, making them among the states friendliest for workers. States along the West Coast and in the Northeast tend to have laws that favor workers.
Others have headed the opposite direction, declining to shore up workers’ rights and instead passing laws that undermine union power. States least friendly to workers include Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming. States in the Southeast tend to have laws that favor employers.
The study examines seven labor policies:
Minimum Wage
The first, minimum wage, is governed by federal law, which rules most employers must pay hourly workers at least $7.25. Many states set their own minimum wages higher, some to account for cost of living. The country’s highest minimum wage is in Washington, D.C., where hourly workers must make at least $13.25.
Paid Sick Leave and Paid Family Leave
Although the federal Family and Medical Leave Act entitles eligible employees to unpaid, job-protected leaves of absence for serious health problems or childbirth, many Americans don’t have access to paid sick days or family leave days. Increased bipartisan attention to the pressures working women feel to balance their careers with culturally expected caretaking responsibilities has put paid leave policies in news headlines.
While politicians debate these issues on a national level, some state policies already mandate paid sick leave or will require it by the end of 2018: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Fewer states and territories currently require paid family leave. They are California, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island.
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Fair-Chance Hiring
The movement to reform the U.S. criminal justice system has highlighted the difficulties some people with criminal records have finding work. This has inspired many states to “ban the box” asking about convictions that is commonly found on job applications or otherwise require employers to delay asking questions about criminal records until later in the hiring process. But in some states, these so-called “fair-chance hiring” laws only apply to government employees, not all workers.
Union-Security Agreements
Organized labor lost a major battle in 2018, when the Supreme Court ruled in the case Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees that public-sector unions cannot require nonmembers to pay fees supporting union efforts. Called union-security agreements, they’re also banned for private-sector unions in some states. Opponents of union-security agreements call these bans “right to work” laws. But proponents call that term misleading. They contend that union-security agreements strengthen unions and therefore provide stronger protections and higher wages to most workers, even those who aren’t members.
Hiring Based on Salary History
Systemic pay gaps between men and women and between white people and people of color have pushed a few states to prohibit employers from asking job candidates about their salary histories during the hiring process, in an attempt to break the cycle of unfairly low salaries. California, Delaware, Massachusetts, Oregon, Puerto Rico and Vermont have banned the practice for all workers, while New Jersey and New York have banned it for government workers only.
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Federal protections for gay workers remain precarious. Various courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have interpreted Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin and religion, as also banning discrimination based on sexual orientation.
But the Trump administration has pressured courts to reject that interpretation, and until a relevant case heads to the Supreme Court or Congress passes new legislation, the question remains open. In the meantime, many states have prohibited employment discrimination against gay workers, although some have limited the protections to government employees.
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Methodology
In this study, each state, plus Washington , D.C. , and Puerto Rico, received one point for each of the following conditions met for most workers and 0.5 points when met only for government workers:
— Mandating paid sick leave
— Mandating paid family leave
— Mandating fair-chance hiring
— Allowing union-security agreements
— Banning hiring based on salary history
— Banning discrimination based on sexual orientation
Additionally, each state received one point if its minimum wage met or exceeded the median minimum wage of $8.25. Note that this is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25.
Information is based on laws in effect by Dec. 31, 2018. Not all labor laws apply to all workers; some policies are only relevant to those who work for employers of a certain size or who have worked for a minimum length of time. For example, some federal EEOC regulations apply only to people who work at companies with a minimum number of employees, while some state minimum wages apply only to companies that have a minimum level of annual sales volume.
Sources include National Conference of State Legislatures, Movement Advancement Project, Human Rights Campaign, AAUW, National Right To Work Committee, National Employment Law Project and HR Dive.
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