- Missouri Supreme Court Upholds $15 Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave
- Wall Street Bonuses to Drop Amid Market Uncertainty
- Failure to Pay OT Wages Costs California Employer $1.4M
- Colorado Lawmakers Seek to Scale Back AI Law
- Spain Moves Ahead to Reduce Workweek to 37.5 Hours
Missouri Supreme Court Upholds $15 Minimum Wage, Paid Sick Leave
Missouri’s Supreme Court voted on Tuesday, April 29, to uphold Proposition A, which will raise Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 per hour and enact statewide paid sick leave.
According to the National Employment Law Project, Missouri voters approved the legislation by a strong majority in November 2024, but large business groups, including the National Federation of Independent Business and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit before the Missouri Supreme Court seeking to rescind it, claiming election irregularities and alleging that the ballot initiative violated Missouri’s state constitution.
In its decision, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected claims there were election irregularities and dismissed claims of constitutional violations.
Following the ruling, Missouri’s minimum wage will increase to $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2026 (it had previously increased from $12.30 per hour to $13.75 on Jan. 1, 2025), and will adjust annually with the cost of living beginning in 2027. Covered workers throughout Missouri began to accrue and use paid sick leave starting May 1, 2025.
Wall Street Bonuses to Drop Amid Market Uncertainty
After a strong 2024, year-end bonuses for financial services industry workers are on track to fall in 2025 amid rocky markets, deal-making slowdowns, a drop in exits and persistent equity outflows, according to a new report from Johnson Associates, Inc., a New York-based compensation consulting firm.
Despite a surge in trading revenues, the report found investment and commercial banking incentives will be down as advisory, mergers and acquisitions, and equity underwriting remain muted. Incentives also are projected to decline at illiquid investment firms given fundraising challenges and a slowdown in exits.
Overall, Johnson Associates forecasted moderate declines in incentives (-5% to -10%), although the firm notes a meaningful chance of both downside (-15% to -25%) and upside (flat payouts) scenarios given the ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainties.
“Bankers are concerned and afraid of paralysis where client activity freezes up and companies don’t invest, buy or sell, and the firms don’t generate the fees that they depend on. That is the biggest fear right now,” said Alan Johnson, founder of Johnson Associates. “The longer the uncertainty lasts, the more significant the impact.”
In a worst-case scenario, bankers’ incentive payouts could sink as much as 20% if economic activity slows, halting transactions, he said. More clarity on tariffs and the easing of geopolitical tensions could keep bonuses flat or boost them slightly.
Failure to Pay OT Wages Costs California Employer $1.4M
The U.S. Department of Labor recovered more than $1.4 million in back wages for more than 2,600 employees after finding a San Jose, California-based electrical engineering and construction company failed to pay them proper overtime rates, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Cupertino Electric Inc. failed to include nondiscretionary bonuses when determining the rate for purposes of calculating overtime pay, which led to the significant wage recovery. The company is one of California’s largest electrical contractors.
Colorado Lawmakers Seek to Scale Back AI Law
When Colorado passed a law last year prohibiting employers from using artificial intelligence (AI) to discriminate against workers, it was the first state in the nation to do so.
The law is set to go into effect Feb. 1, 2026, but Colorado state leaders are now asking the legislature to delay the law’s implementation until January 2027, according to CBS News.
Introduced on Monday, April 28, Senate Bill 318 would reduce the administrative tasks smaller companies must take to protect individuals against discrimination if their AI systems are used to decide who gets a job, housing, personal loans, healthcare, insurance coverage, educational opportunities, or legal or essential government services.
The governor, state attorney general, Denver’s mayor and members of Colorado’s congressional delegation signed a letter saying stakeholders need more time to develop a framework that “protects privacy and fairness without stifling innovation or driving business away from our state.”
Spain Moves Ahead to Reduce Workweek to 37.5 Hours
Spain’s government approved a bill on Tuesday, May 6, that would reduce official working hours from 40 hours to 37.5 hours.
If enacted, the bill, which will now go through the Spanish parliament, would benefit 12.5 million full-time and part-time private-sector workers, and is expected to improve productivity and reduce absenteeism, said Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz.
The measure, which already applies to civil servants and some other sectors, would mainly affect retail, manufacturing, hospitality and construction.
Spain has had a 40-hour workweek since 1983, when it was reduced from 48 hours.
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