|
|
Final rules from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on employment-based wellness programs raise the maximum reward that may be offered by certain wellness programs and expand nondiscrimination protections for sick employees.
The final rules under President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act were issued May 29 and will be effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2014.
The U.S. Senate is expected to consider President Barack Obama’s five nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after its Memorial Day recess. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted on May 22 to approve the nominees, moving the confirmation process to the full Senate.
The nominees up for Senate confirmation are Republicans Harry I. Johnson, III, and Philip A. Miscimarra and Democrats Sharon Block, Richard Griffin, and current NLRB Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce, whose term will end August 27 unless confirmed again by the Senate. Block and Griffin have had seats on the Board since January 2012, when Obama made recess appointments to fill vacant seats.
Nearly four months after an appeals court ruled that recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made in 2012 were invalid, another appellate court has ruled a previous recess appointment unconstitutional.
The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled May 16 in NLRB v. New Vista Nursing & Rehab. that President Barack Obama’s 2010 recess appointment of Craig Becker to the NLRB was invalid. Becker, a Democrat, served on the Board from April 5, 2010, through January 3, 2012.
On May 16, President Barack Obama’s nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) went before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the two nominees who were selected as recess appointees in 2012 failed to impress the committee’s ranking member, Senator Lamar Alexander.
Alexander (R-Tennessee) said he would oppose the nominations of Democrats Sharon Block and Richard Griffin because “they continued to decide cases after the federal appellate court unanimously decided they were unconstitutionally appointed.”
A wave of strikes by fast-food and other low-wage workers continues to spread in major cities around the country as employees take action to increase their pay and gain other workplace rights and benefits. Strikes have taken place in New York City, Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, and Milwaukee as the movement appears to be gaining strength.
The workers are not unionized and work in jobs traditionally not targeted by labor unions because the fast-food industry often relies on teen workers holding part-time and seasonal jobs. Since the recession, however, more adults with families have turned to jobs in the fast-food industry.
Probusiness groups are cheering a new ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that represents another blow to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The appeals court, which issued another ruling against the NLRB in January, ruled on May 7 that the Board exceeded its authority in its effort to require employers to post a notice of employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
The NLRB issued the rule in 2011, but it was never implemented because of court challenges. Had it gone into effect, all employers under NLRB jurisdiction—including nonunion employers—would have been required to post an 11-by-17-inch poster explaining that employees have the right to act together to improve wages and working conditions; to form, join, and assist a union; to bargain collectively with their employer; and to refrain from any of those activities.
The Employers Counsel Network (ECN), a group of attorneys from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada who specialize in employment law matters, is meeting April 24-26 in Alexandria, Virginia, to learn about the latest developments from Congress and the Obama administration that are of importance to employers. 
The attorneys, who represent employers on all types of workplace issues, will hear speakers outline the latest developments affecting employers, including presentations from government officials representing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) new budget request pushes programs to help veterans and the long-term unemployed while continuing priorities from previous years, including efforts to fight misclassification of workers as independent contractors.
The DOL’s fiscal year 2014 budget requests $12.1 billion in discretionary funding—money Acting Labor Secretary Seth D. Harris said will be used for investments to create jobs, upgrade workers’ skills, and “make sure Americans can support their families with a decent wage and secure benefits.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it reached the statutory H-1B visa cap of 65,000 for fiscal year 2014 during the first week of the filing period. This is the first time since 2008 that the cap has been met during the first week.
The H-1B program allows U.S. businesses to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise (e.g., scientists, engineers, and computer programmers).
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), crippled by a January court ruling against two recess appointees, has the potential to get back to full strength if the Senate confirms nominations President Barack Obama made April 9. Previous attempts to fill the NLRB have failed over congressional opposition to Board actions and Obama’s nominees.
On April 9, Obama nominated Republicans Harry I. Johnson, III, and Philip A. Miscimarra along with Democrat Mark Gaston Pearce. Pearce is the current NLRB chair. His term is set to expire August 27. Johnson and Miscimarra are both management-side employment attorneys.
|
|||||||
