PRLA Restaurant & Lodging Matters Winter 2020

Winter 2020 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters •  25 2-Year Session | Minimum Wage | Alcohol Legislation | Food Safety Paid Leave | Short Term Rentals | Bag Ban | Mandated Scheduling Local Items PITTSBURGH—PAID SICK LEAVE The City of Pittsburgh has announced paid sick leave and enforcement will take effect March 15, 2020. Paid sick leave impacts every business in the City of Pittsburgh. PHILADELPHIA—SHORT TERM RENTALS As listings on Airbnb and VRBO continue to grow in Philadelphia, larger companies like Sonder and StayAlfred are beginning to lease entire buildings to operate short term rentals. PRLA, in conjunction with the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, is working on legislation that will create a registry requirement and curb these illegal rentals. PHILADELPHIA—BAG BAN Philadelphia City Council passed legislation that would ban plastic bags by a vote of 15-2. This legislation does the following: • Bans plastic bags that are less than 2.25 mils thick or made through a blown-film extrusion process. • Paper bags may be used as long as: » They contain no growth fiber. » They contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content. » Displays the word(s) “Recyclable” or “Recycled Content” in a highly visible manner and is labeled with the name of the manufacturer and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content of the bag in an easy-to-read font size. • The Ordinance will take effect July 2. PHILADELPHIA—MANDATED SCHEDULING Philadelphia’s mandated predictive scheduling law will take effect April 1, 2020. The legislation requires businesses to: • Guarantee a certain number of hours and consistent schedule per week at the time of hire. • Post schedules 2 weeks in advance and require predictability pay if the schedule needs to be changed at any point within the two week period. • Offer available hours to all existing employees before a new employee can be hired. Any violation of the law results in presumptive damage to the impacted employees and significant fines/litigation to the business. • Federal Items Federal Salary Threshold | European Tariffs | Federal Spending Plan FEDERAL SALARY THRESHOLD TOOK EFFECT JANUARY 1 As of the stroke of midnight on January 1, the federal threshold for salaried employees increased to $35,568/year. Make sure any employee that meets the exempt employee standards is paid above the salary threshold. EUROPEAN TARIFFS The Trump Administration is considering proposing tariffs up to 100 percent on wine from the European Union (EU), and French sparkling wine and champagne, as well as olive oil, cheeses, and other products from the EU. The tariffs are in response to disputes with the EU over large civil aircraft and French digital services taxes that are completely unrelated to the food and beverage industries. If you have not engaged with your federal representatives, it is important that you do so. PRIORITIES/FIXES INCLUDED IN THE FEDERAL SPENDING PLAN The following PRLA priorities, on behalf of the National Restaurant Association and American Hotel & Lodging Association, were addressed by Congress before they recessed in December: • Health Insurance Tax (HIT): Permanently repealed HIT, which would have cost Pennsylvania insurers over $5.3 million next year had it not been repealed. • Cadillac Tax Repeal: the 40 percent tax that would have been assessed on employers that offer a “Cadillac” health insurance plan has been permanently repealed. • Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC): The WOTC, which is a tax credit for employers who hire employees from certain target groups that typically face barriers to employment, has been extended. • H-2B Visa Relief: Allows DHS to more than double the current 66,000 cap on H-2B visas. • Brand USA Reauthorization: Brand USA, the public- private partnership that markets the U.S. internationally is expected to be renewed for another year. • Terrorism Risk Insurance Reauthorization (TRIA): TRIA has been reauthorized for seven years.