What’s a second term for the Obama administration going to mean for HR pros? Here’s a sampling of what the experts are saying.

Immigration

Ilyse Schuman and Michael Lotito, writing on the Littler Mendelson blog:

President Obama’s reelection boosted the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform. … While the chances of passing a comprehensive immigration bill are greater during the president’s second term, these efforts will likely continue to face stiff opposition in Congress. …

The Department of Homeland Security has targeted employers who hire undocumented workers. Audits have been a central theme of the Obama Administration’s immigration enforcement strategy as immigration officials have shifted their focus from employee to employer noncompliance. …

(T)his trend to greater enforcement is certain to continue.

NLRB

From the Jackson Lewis Workplace Resource Center:

During President Obama’s first term, the National Labor Relations Board’s decisions and rulemaking have favored organized labor.  We expect this trend to continue — through Presidential Executive Orders as well as NLRB and Department of Labor agency initiatives.  

Over the past few years, the Board has taken action both through adjudication (i.e., new decisions overturning or expanding existing case law) and administrative agency rulemaking that broaden the National Labor Relations Act’s impact and make it easier for unions to organize workers.  

In particular, the Notice of Employee Rights posting requirement (if upheld by the courts), the expedited election rule (if upheld or reissued by the Board), and bargaining unit composition changes will all work together to increase pressure on employers in 2013 and beyond.

In addition, the NLRB’s “protected concerted activity” initiative is creating a significant alternative for unrepresented employees to contest employer policies and practices. …  Employer policies dealing with social media, “at will” status, class action waivers, electronic communications, confidentiality of investigations, harassment and solicitation/distribution are among those receiving critical scrutiny from the Board. 

(U)nder recent Board decisions, unlawful conduct can be found not only in written workplace policies, but also in seemingly reasonable statements made by executives, supervisors and human resource representatives that are construed as interfering with an employee’s rights.  

The Board’s aggressive, employee-friendly agenda will no doubt continue.

Wage and Hour issues

Another selection from the Littler blog:

With a DOL now undeterred by reelection concerns, we may have seen only the beginning of the extent to which the Department of Labor will enhance its wage and hour enforcement efforts. …

(The DOL will likely) accelerate its efforts to implement its “Plan, Prevent, Protect” regulatory and enforcement strategy. … As part of this “find and fix” approach, the DOL intends to propose a rule updating the recordkeeping requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The “right-to-know” proposal would require employers to provide notice about how pay is computed and perform a classification analysis for each worker excluded from FLSA coverage. …

Legislation targeting the misclassification of employees as independent contractors has languished in Congress. However, the DOL will likely place misclassification at the top of its priorities during the second term of the Obama Administration, including releasing the long-delayed “right-to-know” rule.

The EEOC

From attorney Jay Krupin of the law firm BakerHostetler:

… (O)ne of the first changes (employers) should expect out of the EEOC is the addition of sexual orientation as a protected category.

And more from Jackson Lewis:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission likely will continue its aggressive enforcement agenda.  The agency’s Draft Strategic Enforcement Plan lists eliminating systemic barriers in recruiting and hiring discrimination as the EEOC’s first priority, followed by protecting immigrant and migrant workers from discrimination.  

The EEOC also is committed to investigating “emerging” issues.  Among these are scrutinizing common Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defenses invoked by employers, utilizing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to protect members of the LGBT community, and pushing employers to accommodate pregnant women.  

The EEOC also may move forward on issuing potentially controversial guidance on leave as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA and guidance on the use of credit checks. 

Healthcare reform

More from Ilyse Schulman:

The Supreme Court’s June decision upholding the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate ensured that the health care reform law would remain viable for the foreseeable future. Although new challenges to the law persist, employers must prepare for the law’s additional provisions – including the “pay or play” employer mandate – to take effect in the coming years …

…(E)mployers can expect agencies charged with implementing the law to release a slew of proposed and final regulations.

Outstanding final regulations include those defining which benefits are considered “essential” that qualified health plans must provide, what criteria will be used to classify a worker as “full time” and how “minimum value” is defined for purposes of the employer Pay-or-Play penalty.

For a look at  at some of the specific issues facing companies trying to comply with the reform regs, see Jared Bilski’s HRMorning story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post 4 more years! And 5 big areas of change for HR appeared first on HR Morning.

Resources
Post Your Resume to 65+ Job Sites
Resume Service

Post to Twitter Tweet This Post