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A number of groups are concerned about a minimum wage issue on the November ballot because of language written into the measure. There is also concern over putting a minimum wage mandate into the Ohio Constitution.

The General Assembly recently voted to increase the state minimum wage of $4.25 to match the federal minimum wage of $5.15. The November ballot measure calls for increasing Ohio's minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.85, with automatic annual increases.

"Putting a minimum wage level into the constitution with an annual escalator is not a wise move," said OFBF's Vice President of Government Affairs Keith Stimpert.

The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants agrees.

"If it turns out that this measure hurts Ohio's job climate, the legislature will be powerless to do anything about it because it will be written in the constitution," said Gordon Gaugh, director of legislative affairs for the business group.

What's more, language included in the ballot issue would infringe on workers' rights to privacy.

"Voters should really learn what the fine print in this issue says," Stimpert said.

As written, the issue would allow any interested party the authority to demand pay records of Ohio employees, including people who make above minimum wage. Ty Pine of the group Ohioans to Protect Privacy (description of group?) said co-workers, in-laws, friends and neighbors would be able to see how much you make.

"If this issue passes, we'll see a massive, state-sponsored intrusion into the personal privacy of Ohioans," Pine said.

Stimpert advises voters to carefully read the ballot language before voting on the measure. He said, "people need to grasp what's really going on with the ballot issue."

Possible Unintended consequences of state minimum wage ballot issue:

• Years of court suits and litigation to determine the real meaning of sloppy and imprecise language in the proposed amendment.
• New constitutional tools to harass Ohio employers that could be used by labor unions and class action trial lawyers.
• A requirement that employers maintain and produce on demand payroll records going back as far as decades while employees are on the payroll and for three years afterwards.

Source: Ohioans to Protect Personal Privacy