Lawmakers in Frankfort set off a firestorm when they passed House Bill 500 (#HB500) through, legislation that would eliminate lunch and rest breaks in Kentucky.
But that is not the only bill that puts worker freedom at risk in Kentucky ...
There is #HB255 which eliminates child labor protections that keep high school students from working third shift and in hazardous jobs.
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There is also #HB465, which creates a new second-class employment tier that allows employers to pick and choose which benefits to pay their workforce without providing all of the rights, benefits and protections associated with employment.
Similar bills are being introduced around the country and are written by billionaire-funded think tanks and corporate special interests. One such group is the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA).
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The FGA helped pass a 2022 bill in Kentucky that dramatically reduced the weeks of unemployment benefits available to laid-off workers.
FGA is also pushing #HB367, a bill this session that would take SNAP food assistance from 65,000 Kentuckians, including 21,400 children.
https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article286251470.html
𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺. 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺. 𝘓𝘦𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘏𝘉 500 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. - Jason Bailey (Executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy)
More about the FGA, a right-leaning think tank based in Naples, Florida
https://sfofexposed.org/foundation-for-government-accountability/
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_for_Government_Accountability
Kentucky #HB500 was recently passed by a House of Representatives' Small Business and Information Technology Committee − a 9-4 vote.
The bill aims to:
1. Eliminate required lunch breaks 2. Eliminate required rest breaks
Employers can still provide lunch breaks and rest periods by choice.
3. Eliminate time-and-a-half overtime pay for working 7 days in a row.
4. Statute of limitations for bringing employment lawsuits decreases from five to three years.
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Having read through the ACTUAL bill
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24rs/hb500.html
I feel like ... there is some confusion here and I'm not in law or anything and I don't fully understand ALL of what I'm reading .. but ... there are a few things that seem a bit sus ...
Like ... on one hand some of these seems to help clarify and on the other hand ... it seems like its creating a loophole to be exploited later ... or is it both?
Like the thing about lunch breaks ... it seems to appear on the surface like it's helping to ensure that you CAN'T work during your lunch break ... you can't get paid during your lunch break ... but then it also reads like there would be no break because employers wouldn't have to give you one ...
The language (and I know legal language is all about finding ways of spinning things) seems to waffle between ...
"this is good for you", "this is clarifying" to "how can we get away with this"
@thewebrecluse One of my previous employers offered the choice of a 30-minute paid lunch or a 60-minute unpaid lunch. You were stuck with whatever you chose for 90 days before you could switch. It was an interesting approach I haven't heard of anywhere else.