The Rhode Island House of Representatives recently passed H. 7157 – Minimum Wages, which will increase the RI minimum wage to $11.50, effective October 1, 2020. The House bill mirrors the Senate version, which eliminates the need to schedule reconciliation talks. Since the Governor had similar minimum wage increase language in her budget, there would appear to be virtually no chance that the legislation will not pass.   The Rhode Island minimum wage has been raised 10 times since 2000, including, every year since 2013, with the exception of 2017. With talk, nationally (state by state), of a $15.00 per hour minimum wage,...

There is no government agency that stirs up more controversy then the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Everyone probably hates theIRS, but it's more of a resigned dislike.   In the aftermath of 9/11, in March 2003, the Homeland Security Act set into motion what would be the single-largest government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense. One of the agencies in the new Department of Homeland Security was the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, now known as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.   ICE now has more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel in more than...

As reported in Training Magazine, U.S companies spent $87.6 Billion on training in 2018. However, research by Dr. Brent Peterson of Columbia University suggests that 80% of your training dollars could be being wasted.   Dr. Peterson's findings show that:   ·     Pre-learning event activities represent 26% of learning effectiveness ·     Learning event activities represent 24% of learning effectiveness ·     Post-learning event activities represent 50% of learning effectiveness   However, Peterson’s research reveals that companies invest:   ·     10% of their training budgets on pre-learning event activities ·     85% on learning event activities ·     5% on post-learning event activities   If we examine these numbers, the most jarring fact that jumps out at us...

If you thought you have overtime procedures under control, you probably may want to re-think that. As of Jan. 1, 2020, the Department of Labor has mandated, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), new overtime rules. One of the most important outcomes of these new requirements is that the final rule makes 1.3 million American workers eligible for overtime pay.   Non-exempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked that surpass 40 hours in any work week. This pay must be a minimum of 1 and one half their standard wage. As long as the worker is at least aged...

Photo by Benreis (no alterations have been made to this photo)   Are You Worth Your Salt?   Mark Kurlansky is the author of several non-fiction books. One of particular interest is simply titled "Salt".   Salt is the only rock we eat. It has been part of civilization since the very beginning. For quite some time, salt was used as currency. Long before gold. In fact, before the Silk Road was connecting Africa, western Europe, Persia, India and China, salt was used in trade and was instrumental in forming the first links between regions of the world.   In ancient Rome, the roots of the word “soldier” and...