Industry Standards Boards Are Delivering Results for Workers, Employers, and Their Communities

Since 2018, industry standards boards or similar bodies have been adopted by six states (California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Nevada) and three cities (Seattle, Detroit, and Philadelphia).¹ These bodies bring together representatives of workers, employers, and government in a forum to help set minimum workplace standards—including wages, hours, training, and safety—for an entire sector of the economy, such as fast food, nursing homes, home care, or agriculture.

Evaluation of these industry standards boards finds that they:

• Raise pay and other standards. Standards boards are helping raise wages to $20.50 per hour for nursing home workers in Minnesota, to $20 per hour for fast-food workers in California, and to $16 per hour for home care workers in Nevada. Boards also ensure nursing home workers in Minnesota can take paid holidays and will receive training on their rights, that agricultural workers in New York receive overtime pay, and that domestic workers in Seattle will have access to paid leave.
• Build workers’ power. The boards have raised standards in a way that has helped engage workers, enabling them to express their collective power and to develop into worker-leaders ready to take additional actions to improve conditions in their industry.
• Create coalitions to improve industries. Elected officials have expressed strong support for these standards boards, arguing that they can benefit workers and help address employer challenges such as high turnover. Similarly, some employers express public support for board processes, which they believe give firms tools to help improve their industries.
• Are most successful when they have strong legal authorities. Certain boards have accomplished more than others in part because they have the ability to hire dedicated staff, an easy process for their recommendations to become law, and worker-led compliance mechanisms. The Minnesota Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board provides a model for future legislation because it includes all these elements.