Media pundits are talking about 2021 being the year of the “Great Resignation” and QuitToks are trending on social media.
I am not convinced people are leaving jobs to find more meaningful ones. People are burned out and lives remain upended by the continual disruptions of the pandemic, but wage disparities seem as relevant a determining factor.
Here in Vermont, as we focus on workforce development, let’s not leave the worker behind.
Currently there are several bills regarding wages and worker protections pending in the upcoming legislative session. Many complex issues need further examination in committee as we learn from experts and those impacted. Legislation is indeed iterative.
Vermont’s current wage laws are not in sync with federal regulations, including some minimum wage exemptions that were written into the original 1938 federal legislation — for farm workers, domestic workers, tipped workers, nonprofit employees, newspaper delivery people, and other categories.
Some of these exemptions have not been revisited in over 20 years by Vermont lawmakers and are no longer relevant. Overtime exemptions for retail and service establishments, as well as administrators, also need to be examined considering today’s economic realities.
By current statute, tipped workers in hotels, motels, tourist places and restaurants are eligible for only 50% of the minimum wage as their base, but this standard is in flux, as some Vermont restaurants now pay both front of house and kitchen staff the same full hourly wage and tips are aggregated and shared with all.
There are many perspectives on this, and committees will take further testimony during the session. This is also a gender issue — 81% of tipped wage workers in Vermont are women, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
As important, increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025 no longer seems like an undue burden on small employers, as current worker shortages spurred increases in hourly wages. However, post-pandemic, the 2022 hourly rate of $12.55 is truly inadequate — far below a living wage.
Securing a base of $15 per hour would do much to improve the earning power of over a third of Vermont’s workers, according to a 2019 study by the Public Assets Institute. At that time, 34% of Vermont men and 39% of Vermont women who worked full-time earned less than $11 an hour.
However, increasing the minimum wage cannot be done in isolation. To raise wages for home health and personal care organizations, for example, will require increasing Medicaid reimbursements for them to remain financially viable. And state benefits need to be examined so as not to cause workers to lose essential supports by pushing wages just over income eligibility levels.
Other wage-related bills look to improve the stability of all Vermont workers by requiring reliable work schedules, expense reimbursements for remote workers, wage transparency, and prohibiting employers from firing employees without “just cause.”
Paid family leave remains an important issue, as well as health insurance and subsidized child care for employee recruitment and retention.
Focusing on improving workers’ financial health is essential as Vermont recalibrates itself post-Covid. As living costs continue to escalate, more and more families cannot meet basic needs. Adequately compensating workers needs to be prioritized to ensure a vital economic future for our state. There can be no workforce development without workers.