WHD Rulemakings Full Speed Ahead. This is a busy time for the Wage & Hour Division’s regulatory agenda. Early in the week, the White House approved its final rule updating the regular rate regulations. The updates are expected to make it easier for employers to provide benefits to employees without worrying about impacting the overtime rate. Then, WHD sent its joint employer final rule to the White House for review. Today, the comment period ends for WHD’s proposal to update the fluctuating workweek method of computing overtime. And Monday will mark the end of the comment period for the proposed rule updating tip-related regulations. It looks like 2020 will bring many opportunities for employers to address wage and hour compliance.
Senate Committee Advances Nominees. The Senate HELP Committee has been quiet this year, with not a single non-nomination hearing on labor issues. Keeping with that trend, this week, the committee went into Executive Session to consider the nominations of Richard Giacolone to be the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; and Cynthia Attwood and Amanda Wood Laihow to serve as Members of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. All three nominations advanced and will be considered by the full Senate.
State and Local Governments Continue to Jump on Labor Issues. In the absence of federal standards on some key issues, state and local governments continue to step in. For example, Waterloo, Iowa has enacted a “ban the box” ordinance, the first such ban in Iowa. And, Illinois passed amendments to its recreational cannabis law that help reduce employer liability regarding drug-free workplace policies. Even Florida looks to get in on the action, with a state senator introducing a bill that would protect medical marijuana users in their employment. We’ll continue to monitor state activity on the labor front, particularly where election year politics are likely to impact some of these hot-button issues.
Good News on EEO-1 Form. On November 25, OFCCP issued a notice that it will not request, accept, or use employer Component 2 data. Importantly, this is not a request for comment but is effective immediately. The notice states that “OFCCP will not request, accept, or use Component 2 data, as it does not expect to find significant utility in the data given limited resources and its aggregated nature, but will continue to receive EEO-1 Component 1 data.” This appears to resolve concerns over whether the agency would disclose Component 2 data pursuant to requests under FOIA by outside parties. As reported previously, Seyfarth has long been involved in battling this issue, from earlier requests for relief to OMB to filing amicus briefs before the DC District Court. The saga continues…
New Paid Leave Legislation. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) have introduced their long-discussed Advancing Support for Working Families Act (S. 2976), which would give a $5000 advance to new parents through the IRS child tax credit to help support families in a child’s first year. Although bipartisan, the bill faces an uphill battle given its limited scope and the authors’ decision not to include a right to reinstatement. Its supporters argue that it is a narrow bill which can garner bipartisan support because of its very limited nature and as a complement to the existing federal FMLA law and state and local paid leave laws. This bill is one of several paid leave bills that have been introduced in this Congress; none have yet to see any progress. The Administration continues to express interest in paid leave, but has not expressed support for any particular initiative. Stay tuned…
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