Wednesday, November 19, 2014
COLUMBUS
Retailers who choose to open early for Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving would have to pay their employees triple their normal rate under legislation proposed by two Democratic state lawmakers.
Response by local businesses, however, is mixed.
State Reps. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-58th, and Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, want to counter retailers’ decisions to open on a holiday, taking workers away from their families in the process.
“The overall goal of HB 360 is to draw attention the plight of low-wage workers who are forced to forgo their holiday in the name of massive profits for the retail industry,” Hagan said. “Hopefully retail stores will carefully consider the decision to open on Thanksgiving.”
Foley added, “I find the idea of taking people away from their loved ones abhorrent.”
Foley commented today before the House’s Commerce, Labor and Technology Committee, where the legislation had its first hearing.
HB 360 would require retailers to pay employees at triple their regular wage rate for time worked Thanksgiving.
Read more about the proposal in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.