By William J. Ford
Washington Informer, Dec 31, 2020

Nick Balmadier continues to gain coffee experience working at Vigilante Coffee Co. in College Park. Besides learning to grind coffee beans and brew java, the 22-year-old senior at the University of Maryland also gained another skill.

“I’ve learned how to clean better since working here,” said Balmadier of Howard County, who majors in community health. “It’s those little things that have made this an overall great experience.”

Starting Friday, workers in Maryland will see a minimum-wage increase from $11 to $11.75. State lawmakers overrode a veto by Gov...

By Aimee Picchi
CBS News MoneyWatch, Dec. 30, 2020

Workers in 20 states will get a pay hike on January 1 when the minimum wage increases, thanks to cost-of-living adjustments and other scheduled increases. Later in the year, another four states and Washington, D.C. will raise their baseline pay, which means that low-wage workers in almost half the nation could see higher pay next year. ...

The wage hikes in 2021 "are an indication that people understand how much the $7.25 federal minimum wage keeps people in poverty," said Holly Sklar, the CEO of Business for...

By Ashley Portero
South Florida Business Journal, Dec 30, 2020

Florida is one of 20 states that will kick off the new year by raising its minimum wage. The Sunshine State's minimum wage rises to $8.65 an hour Jan. 1, up from the current rate of $8.56. In September, the minimum wage will increase again to $10 an hour as a result of a constitutional amendment passed by Florida voters in November.

Business owners who support a higher minimum wage argue it will strengthen local workforces and boost consumer spending for the benefit of both workers and...

By David Mullen
Denver Gazette, Dec 30, 2020, Updated Jan 11, 2021

Workers throughout Colorado who earn minimum wage will get a slight pay raise on Friday. The minimum wage will rise from $12 per hour to $12.32 per hour. Colorado joins 19 other states that will be raising the minimum wage heading into 2021 and experts expect this to help local economies get back on track.

"The economy will get a shot in the arm when states raise their minimum wage to start the New Year," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Minimum Wage.

"Business...

By Shira Schoenberg
CommonWealth Magazine, Dec 29, 2020

IT’S BEEN A TOUGH YEAR for low-wage workers, who were hit hard by the pandemic – losing jobs and income and facing housing and food insecurity.

But in Massachusetts, changes in state law that go into effect January 1 could bring at least slight relief. The minimum wage is set to rise next year, and the state’s paid family and medical leave program will go into effect as well. ... Both these changes are part of a law passed in 2018, the so-called “grand bargain” aimed at keeping multiple questions off that...

By Ben Werschkul
Yahoo Finance, Dec 28, 2020

While the coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has hit poor Americans the hardest, minimum wage earners in 20 U.S. states will get raises at the start of the new year. Four more states, plus Washington, DC, will raise their minimum wages later in 2021.

Florida’s workers will get one of the biggest raises, after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in November to gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2026. The lowest-earning workers there earn $8.56 per hour and will move up to $8.65 on Jan. 1 and then $10...

By Tasos Kokkinidis
Greek Reporter, Dec 10, 2020

Greek-American Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, President and CEO of ECOS®, is not just a successful business leader but also an influential and dedicated environmentalist.

In an in-depth interview with Greek Reporter, she explains how her company, which makes the environmentally friendly ECOS Laundry Detergent and other household cleaners, adapted to the coronavirus pandemic by prioritizing the health of its employees and scaling its operations to meet the global need for cleaning products.

She also shares why ECOS pays one of the highest minimum wages in the industry and her hopes that the...

By Michael Sainato
The Guardian, Nov 23, 2020

It has been a long time coming but Hector Rivera is hopeful that one day soon he will be able to take a day off work. The 61-year-old works as a janitor in Miami, Florida, making just over $9 an hour. Because the pay is so low, Rivera works two janitorial jobs and scrambles to find gig jobs on the weekends in order to cover his rent and bills every month. ... On 3 November Rivera, and the millions of Americans fighting for a raise for low-wage workers, were...

By Laura Layden
Naples Daily News, Nov 19, 2020

... The first wage increase tied to Amendment 2 will come on Sept. 30, 2021, when the minimum pay in Florida will hit $10.00 an hour ...

Some area businesses welcome the minimum wage hike, saying it's long overdue and won't have the dire consequences portrayed by the opposition. ...

More than 160 business owners and executives joined the Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition in favor of Amendment 2. T hey contend that raising the minimum wage will boost the consumer buying power that businesses depend...

By Alicia Kelso
Restaurant Dive, Nov. 19, 2020

Dive Brief:

• Washington, D.C.-based &pizza announced Wednesday it will implement a $15 minimum wage for its employees across all locations by 2022 . The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has been in place since 2009.
• The chain has advocated for higher wages since its launch in 2012, joining the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage alliance and working with representatives on the Raise the Wage Act. ...

Raising the minimum wage has long been a priority for the company. Lastoria was talking about a $15 wage in 2017, telling Business Insider...

By Shawn M. Carter
CNBC Grow, Nov 12 2020

The federal minimum wage in the United States has been $7.25 since 2009, and the momentum to increase it has been growing among lawmakers. In 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Raise the Minimum Wage Act, which aims to gradually lift minimum hourly wages from $7.25 to $15 by 2025.

That initiative is popular with Democrats and increasingly so with Republicans as well. When President-elect Joe Biden, who supports the idea, takes office in January, he could have a chance to make it law. ...

Florida’s new $15...

Jim Blasingame, Host
The Small Business Advocate, Radio, Nov 12, 2020

With Business for a Fair Minimum Wage CEO Holly Sklar

Op-Ed By Veronica Menin and Diego Tosoni, Owners, Love Life Cafe

... With fair pay, employees are happier, healthier and more productive, which is exactly why the passage of amendment No. 2 is good news for Florida’s businesses. ...

By Holly Petre
Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 9, 2020. Also in Restaurant Hospitality.

Florida last week joined the eight states and the District of Columbia as jurisdictions moving toward a $15 per hour minimum wage.

More than 60% of state voters last week approved Amendment 2, a ballot measure that will phase in an increase the state’s current minimum wage of $8.56 per hour to $15 per hour by Sept. 30, 2026. ...The amendment does not change the allowable tip credit of up to $3.02 per hour for tipped workers, according to the National Law Review. Currently...

By Kimberly Adams
Marketplace Morning Report, Nov 9, 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States, and change in the White House comes with changes to the business plans of companies large and small. ...

Health care costs are also on the mind of Adam Orman, co-owner of L’Oca d’Oro Restaurant in Austin, Texas. But he’s looking forward to the Biden administration.

“A public option would change the way that we are providing health care for sure,” he said.

Orman said he’s also hoping Congress will raise the federal...