Ohio Governor John Kasich says he’s taking “a deep breath” after voters overwhelmingly rejected a state law he supported placing limits on collective bargaining for government workers.

Union supporters are praising the vote that rejected Senate Bill 5, a law that would have prohibited strikes by public-sector unions, ended binding arbitration, stopped promotions based totally on seniority, and made other changes. The law, which would have affected teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public workers, had not yet taken effect. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, the vote was 61 percent to 39 percent to reject the law, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

“I’ve heard their voices, I understand their decision, and, frankly, I respect what people have to say in an effort like this,” Kasich told the Associated Press. “And as a result of that, it requires me to take a deep breath, you know, and to spend some time reflecting on what happened here.”

read more…

Four employment law blogs published by law firms that are part of the Employers Counsel Network (ECN) have been named to the LexisNexis Top 25 Labor and Employment Law Blogs of 2011.

Those making the list are: read more…

Another state has secured victory in the battle to balance struggling state budgets by restricting collective bargaining rights for public-sector employees. Ohio Governor John Kasich has approved Senate Bill (SB) 5, a bill that is in some ways more restrictive than the highly publicized and protested Wisconsin bill that passed earlier this year.

The bill limits collective bargaining rights for public employees by prohibiting negotiations on health care, sick time, and pension benefits. Public employees would still be permitted to negotiate wages and certain work conditions but would be prohibited from participating in strikes. SB 5 also requires public employees to contribute a higher percentage of their health and pension benefits, reduces the number of vacation days and paid holidays for workers, and eliminates automatic pay increases, instead adopting a system of merit raises and performance pay.

read more…

As the new year approaches, a number of states will see index-driven increases to their minimum wage rates. Specifically, Arizona, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington will each add around 10 cents per hour to their existing wage rates, based on an increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of a little more than one percent from August 2009 to August 2010. Two other states, Florida and Missouri, have chosen not to adjust their indexed wages.

In Arizona, the state minimum wage will increase from $7.25 to $7.35 per hour and will remain at that rate throughout the next year. Tipped employees’ hourly wages also will increase 10 cents, from $4.25 to $4.35. The new minimum wage must be posted in an area where employees can read the poster, such as the break room.

read more…

by Bradd N. Siegel, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP

Republicans swept every major statewide race in Ohio, taking back the Governor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the post for chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from incumbent Democrats. Republicans also claimed the open U.S. Senate seat.

read more…

On Tuesday, September 15, 2009,  the Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes under Chapter 4112, Ohio’s antidiscrimination statute, and R.C. 4111.17, which prohibits wage discrimination. The bill, H.B. 176, was introduced into the Ohio House in May and originally added “gender identity and expression” to the list of protected classes. An amendment to the bill eliminated gender expression as part of the definition of the protected class, narrowing the protection for gender identity to “gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth.” The bill defines sexual orientation as “actual or perceived, heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality.”

Interestingly, the bill limits the statutes’ coverage for the two new classes — sexual orientation and gender identity — only to government employers and employers with 15 or more employees (as opposed to the four or more employees required for other protected classes). In addition, the bill provides an exception for “religious association[s], corporation[s], or societ[ies] . . . not organized for private profit, or any institution[s] organized for educational purposes . . . operated, supervised, or controlled by such [religious organizations]” to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression except when the organization is engaged in a secular business activity unrelated to the religious or educational purpose for which it is organized.

read more…