Ohio Lawmaker Seeks Triple Pay for Those Working on Thanksgiving

A lawmaker in Ohio wants stores in the state to pay triple wages for employees who work on Thanksgiving. An effort that comes as Macy's, the holiday's quintessential retailer, is allowing its workers to choose whether to work that day. State Rep. Mike Foley, a Democrat from Cleveland, said his bill would allow employees to bow out of the holiday shift without job sanctions while protecting family time from excessive consumerism. Gordon Gough, president and CEO of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, said the trade group disagrees with Foley's proposal to impose a triple-pay requirement only on retailers. He said it wouldn't be fair because some restaurants, gas stations and other businesses have long been open on the holiday. The Ohio proposal, from a Democrat in a Republican-controlled Legislature, is unlikely to progress beyond the first hearing it got last week.