We just wanted to extend a hearty welcome to our newest colleagues in Minneapolis.  Effective today Fox Rothschild LLP has merged with Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP.  With this merger, we now have 22 offices in 12 states and Washington D.C.

Although we try to focus on anything that might be of interest to employers and human resource professionals anywhere in the United States and beyond, today we thought we would focus on what is on the horizon for Minneapolis employers in 2016.

Of perhaps the biggest concern for employers is paid sick leave.  In October 2015, the Minneapolis City Council announced that it was cancelling a planned public hearing on the initiative which had been scheduled for November 4, 2015.  Instead, lawmakers decided to put the brakes on and slow down the process.

According to the Minneapolis Post, the cancellation of the public hearing does not necessarily mean that a sick leave ordinance does not have support amongst members of the Council.  Rather, it seemed that the Council had put the cart before the horse.  Just two weeks prior to scheduled public hearing, there was still not even a draft of the proposed ordinance for review.

Council members have promised to revisit the issue in the Spring of 2016 and the Council has formed a work group, the Workplace Regulations Partnership, with members from workers’ rights groups, organized labor, employers, and business groups to discuss this ordinance and other ordinances such as the Fair Scheduling Ordinance which would require pay by employers for certain last minute schedule changes and a minimum wage ordinance.

The Workplace Regulations Partnership is not scheduled to report back to the Council until late February 2016.  We will keep an eye out for the report to see if it gives hints about what legislation may be passed by the Council.