Personnel Concepts Attuned to Obama Changes

There's some glee over at Personnel Concepts, even among those who may have voted otherwise, at the thought of the changes being sought and made by the Obama administration on the labor law front.

Change is like the ka-ching of a cash register to firms that help businesses comply with workplace regulations and laws, and not just labor law poster and information firms like Personnel Concepts.

Labor and employment lawyers' eyes also grow wide these days as they ponder the opportunities under the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Human resources firms are busy scheduling seminars and offering training courses on CDs and in books for the changes to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA).

There's more change to come, so look for companies that deal with labor law and workplace regulations to develop new products and programs, and new products and programs mean additional opportunities for sales. Ka-ching.

Recessions never do hit everyone equally, do they?

Unions, Smunions--What, Me Worry?

For all the celestial disturbance over the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), you wouldn't know it from a poll I just discovered at the Manpower Employment Blawg.

The blog posted this question:

What is the #1 most frightening employment law issue you’re facing right now?

And got these results:

1. Terminations (26%)
2. Discrimination (13%)
3. Medical issues (10%)
4. Harassment (9%)
5. (Tie) Wage and hour (8%) and Benefits (8%)
7. Hiring (7%)
8. RIFs (6%)
9. Unions (3%)

So, unions are at the bottom of the list, are they? That being the case (in a very unscientific survey), why all the hubbub over EFCA?

New Year Ushers in Minimum Wage Hikes

Two cities and 11 states are raising their minimum wage laws on Jan. 1, 2009, with Washington topping the state list at $8.55 per hour, and the City of Santa Fe besting everyone at $9.92 an hour (San Francisco just behind that at $9.79).

The federal rate will go to $7.25 on July 24, raising many other states' rates in the process (including both Florida and Arizona, which are raising their hourly wage requirement on Jan. 1 but no to that level).

Here's a complete rundown on the Jan. 1 wage increases.

Employers, check your requirements and get the posters you need with this state-by-state labor law posting checklist.

If You Like EFCA, You'll Love Its Siblings

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would allow union organization merely by the collection of enough signatures--called card check--instead of secret ballots, has been stirring up a hornet's nest of business opposition.

Now, a University of Chicago Law School professor named Richard Epstein has even come out in print blasting the EFCA as unconstitutional on both First and Fifth Amendment grounds. I think he's stretching the First Amendment gambit a bit, but the argument based on the "takings" clause of the Fifth may carry more legal weight.

The takings argument involves the EPCA's provision calling for binding arbitration in case the employer and new union can't agree on a contract. Epstein argues that an arbitrator could mandate provisions that would put the company out of business (setting wages and benefits too high, etc.), and this would invoke the takings-clause protection of the Fifth Amendment.

Anyway, unless the law passes, we'll never get a review of its constitutionality, but in the meantime employers and business owners have a whole panolpy of other liberal-leaning legislation to fear and oppose.

Let's look at some of them:

RESPECT Act: Redefines how much time a person must spend supervising to be categorized a supervisor to make more employees eligible for unionization while shrinking the ranks of potential opponents.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: Gets a tad technical but basically stretches the time frame for filing discrimination claims almost into infinity.

Employment Non-Discrimination Act: Adds sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes.

Civil Rights Act of 2008: A grab bag of statutory changes that prohibits mandatory arbitration agreements between employees and employers and removes caps on monetary claims in lawsuits, among other far-ranging goodies.

Working Families Flexibility Act: Reguires good faith negotiations with any employee who desires a different work schedule--days of work, hours of work and location of work. (Makes it hard for the employer to say no as well.)

FOREWARN Act: Takes the WARN Act (see recent Republic Windows and Doors incident) and lowers coverage to companies with 50 or more employees (down from 100), raises advance-notice of layoffs/closing bar to 90 days, and doubles the amount of pay for employees if proper advanced notice isn't given.

Like I said, if you like EPCA, you'll love the whole mix of legislative goodies coming down the pike.