David Garland Cited in "NJ Lawmakers Agree to $15 Minimum Wage"

If the proposed legislation is adopted as outlined, New Jersey will join a small group of states implementing a $15 per hour minimum wage in the coming years. Meanwhile, cities like San Francisco, Seattle and New York City are already serving as test cases.

Federal lawmakers also introduced a bill Jan. 16 that would gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 and eliminate the tipped minimum wage, but such proposals remain divisive at the federal level so bipartisan support may be unlikely.

Momentum for employee-friendly measures at the state and local levels, however, has picked up in recent years thanks to inaction at the federal level, experts say. The mandates, which include paid leave laws, salary history bans and predicable scheduling requirements, have proved particularly problematic for employers operating in multiple jurisdictions. And the legalization of recreational marijuana has been perhaps the most troubling of all, David Garland, a member of the firm Epstein Becker Green, previously told HR Dive. These initiatives show little sign of stopping, he said.