State Ballot Measures: What CHROs Need to Know

Last week’s elections saw several ballot initiatives passed by voters across different states. Here is your quick guide to those that could impact the workplace:

Minimum wage:

• Alaska: State minimum wage increased to $13 per hour in 2025, $14 per hour in 2026, $15 per hour in 2027, and adjusted annually for inflation in subsequent years.

• Missouri: Proposition A increased the state minimum wage to $13.75 per hour in 2025 and $15 per hour by 2026, then adjusts it annually by CPI.

Paid sick leave:

• Alaska: Employers must provide 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked (maximum 56 hours), effective July 1, 2025.

• Missouri: Employers must provide 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked (maximum 56 hours), effective May 1, 2025.

• Nebraska: Employers must provide 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked (maximum 56 hours), effective October 1, 2025.

Union neutrality: Oregon voters approved a measure requiring cannabis businesses to enter into union neutrality agreements in order to receive state licensing.

Union rights for app-based drivers: Massachusetts voters approved a measure that would provide organizing and collective bargaining rights to Uber and Lyft drivers in the state on an industry-wide basis.

Reproductive rights: Seven states passed ballot measures guaranteeing or expanding access to reproductive care including abortion: Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.

Look to the states: The number of workplace state ballot initiatives highlights the trend of labor and employment regulation tilting away from the federal level and towards the states, a practice that is expected to continue in the 119th Congress.