HR Roundup: $15 Minimum Wage Clears First Hurdle

• Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has approved a petition to raise Ohio’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2028, although the initiative is still in the early phases of getting on the next general election ballot.
• This summary of a manufacturers event hosted by OMA Connections Partner Gilmore Jasion Mahler includes insight for executives who are examining the role compensation packages play in recruiting and retention.
• The federal government’s September report recorded 806,000 manufacturing job openings nationwide.
• A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute finds 60% of U.S. employees are concerned about their financial well-being. Fewer than half say they’re offered a financial wellness program at work.
• Ohio’s labor force participation rate continues to linger at lower rates not seen since the late 1970s, according to federal data.
• U.S. manufacturing labor productivity decreased 1.3% in Q3, a new federal report says.
• A new era of hiring startups has arrived as several online jobs platforms are focused on skilled blue-collar hiring.
• OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips has published this guidance, which provides six antitrust compliance steps that employers should consider after the first-ever federal criminal prosecution in a wage-fixing case.
• Fisher Phillips has also published its 2023 Workplace Law Forecast, which includes the firm’s predictions in areas related to HR and manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Ohio was among the states reporting the fewest total job separations in August, at 3.8%. This graphic shows several states were still reporting job separation rates between 5.5% and 7%. 11/3/2022