• In its latest survey of Northeast Ohio manufacturers, OMA Connections Partner MAGNET finds that starting pay for low-skill, entry-level jobs has risen to an average of $16.30 per hour and to $21.10 per hour for mid-skill jobs.
• The White House this week issued an executive order on artificial intelligence. OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips published these 10 things employers need to know, including that job discrimination is a focus of the order.
• OMA Connections Partner Frantz Ward has published this summary on the EEOC’s effort to expand its guidance on harassment.
• Regarding Ohio’s Nov. 7 vote on recreational marijuana, Frantz Ward has published this guidance, advising employers to ensure their drug policies are consistent with state and federal law, and to apply them consistently.
• Final forms and instructions for 2023 Affordable Care Act reporting have been released, according to this insight from One Source Advisors, an OMA Connections Partner.

Meanwhile, the employment cost index, a key measure for wage pressure on inflation, shows U.S. labor costs grew 1.1% higher than the Q3 forecast and remained higher than the pre-pandemic average. 11/2/2023