Legislative lowdown: EEOC proposes new harassment guidance, California raises fast-food minimum wage

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is seeking to add provisions for LGBTQ+ workers to its workplace harassment guidance, according to proposed updates released this week. Here’s what the changes could mean for HR. Plus, news on a move to raise wages for fast-food workers in California.

EEOC proposes updated guidance on workplace harassment. The EEOC released proposed updates to its guidance on workplace harassment on Oct. 2. The guidance, which is currently open to the public for comment, hasn’t been updated since 1999. Although the agency previously proposed updates in 2017, they were never finalized by the Trump administration due to “internal disagreements” about LGBTQ+ workers, reported Bloomberg Law.

The EEOC cited changes in law, the #MeToo movement, and emerging issues like virtual and online harassment as animating factors behind the proposed changes to the guidance.

The proposed guidance specifies that LGBTQ+ workers are entitled to harassment protections, in light of the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. In that case, a majority of justices found that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on an individual’s sexual orientation; the EEOC said the decision also “logically extends to claims of harassment” in its proposed guidance.

Examples of harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity may include “misgendering,” or the “intentional and repeated use of a name or pronoun” that doesn’t align with an individual’s identity, the EEOC said.

The updated guidance also suggests that sex-based harassment can include harassment based on pregnancy, childbirth, or other related medical conditions, as well as on a woman’s reproductive decisions, like contraception or abortion.

Harassment isn’t limited to a physical work environment, per the EEOC’s proposed guidance, and may include sexist comments made during a video meeting, for example, or racist jokes sent via email.

California raises fast food minimum wage to $20 an hour. On Sept. 28, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that will raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers in the state to $20 an hour, up from $15.50.

When the law takes effect in April 2024, restaurants with at least 60 locations nationwide will be required to raise their minimum wage to adhere with the new requirements. California fast-food workers earned $16.60 an hour, on average, in 2022.

This law replaces previous legislation the governor signed last year, which would have created a council with the ability to raise the minimum wage as high as $22 an hour. That law was put on hold following criticism from restaurant groups and fast food corporations, which launched a campaign in the hopes voters would repeal it. To reach a deal, labor unions dropped a provision from the most recent law that would have held fast food corporations liable for the actions of their franchisees.

The new minimum wage could have a ripple effect across industries beyond fast food, according to experts who spoke with the Restaurant Business, a trade publication. Michael Lotito, co-chair of the Workplace Policy Institute with law firm Littler, predicted businesses will have a harder time competing for talent if they don’t raise their minimum wage to $20 an hour.

“In other words, if an hourly worker at McDonald’s is earning $20 per hour as a base, then the full-service restaurant down the road will be forced to pay that and more to win that worker—and so will the retailer, the auto repair shop and manufacturing plant,” wrote Lisa Jennings, a reporter with the publication.