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.

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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).

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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.”

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President Barack Obama’s choice of Thomas E. Perez for secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor is likely to face tough questions during the process of confirmation by the Senate. If confirmed, Perez will replace Hilda L. Solis, who stepped down as labor secretary in January after serving in the post four years.

Foes of Perez, who currently is the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department, are citing a report from the administration’s inspector general that points out “deep ideological polarization” that has “fueled disputes and mistrust” in the Justice Department’s Voting Section. The report says problems have existed for years, including in the George W. Bush administration, but Perez’s performance was called into question as soon as reports indicated he would be nominated for labor secretary.

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by Kevin J. Skelly

Every year, employers must publicly report specific transactions or arrangements relating to unionization or the threat of unionization. The report must be made within 90 days after the end of the employer’s fiscal year. For employers whose fiscal years coincide with the calendar year, the reporting deadline will be at the end of March.

The report is made on Form LM-10, which is issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Nongovernmental employers must file the form annually to disclose financial dealings with union officials and representatives.

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by David S. Fortney and Judith E. Kramer

Effective February 28, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is changing its approach to compliance audits and enforcement proceedings related to how contractors pay their workers. The changes effectively open nearly every federal contractor’s actions, policies, and practices on compensation to scrutiny, review, and possible challenge.

On February 28, the OFCCP will formally rescind the “Voluntary Guidelines” and “Compensation Standards” issued in 2006. The agency has claimed those documents improperly limit its ability to conduct full investigations of compensation matters.

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On February 4, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule implementing two expansions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The rule was issued to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Act.

One of the expansions provides families of eligible veterans with the same FMLA-protected leave available to families of military servicemembers. It also provides leave to more military families for activities that come up when a current servicemember is deployed.

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The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) observed the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) on February 4 by releasing a survey on its use and impact.

The survey, conducted in 2012, follows previous assessments in 1995 and 2000. Both employees and worksites were surveyed. Here are some of the key findings:

• Most worksites aren’t covered by the FMLA, but more than half of all employees are eligible. The survey’s executive summary notes that 17% of worksites reported being covered by the Act, and another 30% said they weren’t sure if they were covered. Although many employers are too small to be covered, most employees across the country are covered. According to the survey, 59% of employees meet the requirements to be eligible for the FMLA’s protections. The survey addressed what would happen if the law were changed to cover more employees. “Expanding eligibility to smaller worksites would modestly increase eligibility,” it states. “Currently, eligibility requires that firms have 50 employees within 75 miles of this worksite; lowering the cutoff to 30 employees would increase eligibility from 59 percent to 63 percent, [and] lowering it further to 20 employees would increase it to 67 percent.”

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A new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Administrator’s Interpretation has been issued to clarify who qualifies as an adult “son or daughter” whom an employee may take unpaid leave from work to care for and rely on the job protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

An adult son or daughter must meet four requirements before the employee may take FMLA leave to provide care. (The employee must also meet all of the other requirements under the FMLA, such as employer coverage and employee eligibility.) The son or daughter must (1) have a mental or physical disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as amended by the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA), (2) be incapable of caring for himself because of the disability, (3) have a serious health condition, and (4) be in need of care because of the serious health condition.

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by Judith E. Kramer

An Executive Order issued nearly four years ago dealing with employees of federal contractors is set to take effect on January 18.

President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13495—Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts—on January 30, 2009. The order requires that contractors and subcontractors acquiring contracts that succeed contracts for the performance of the same or similar services at the same location must offer the predecessor contractor’s employees a right of first refusal of employment.

Authority to enforce the order lies with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which issued its final regulations on August 29, 2011. The order is just now taking effect because the effective date was postponed until the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued its regulations. Both sets of regulations take effect on January 18, meaning that contracting agencies must include the new requirements in solicitations, new contracts, and contract modifications. Contractors’ obligations do not begin until the new requirements are included in the relevant contracting document by the contracting agency.

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