On June 20, President Trump nominated Marvin Kaplan to fill one of two vacant seats on the
five member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Kaplan serves as counsel to the commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, an independent organization designed to decide workplace safety and health disputes between the Department of Labor and employers.
READ MORE
On March 22, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a confirmation hearing on the nomination of R. Alexander Acosta to serve as United States Secretary of labor. President Trump nominated Acosta to head the U.S. Department of Labor On Feb. 16. Acosta’s nomination must be approved by the HELP Committee before the full Senate can vote on his nomination.
READ MORE
On Feb. 16, President Trump announced R. Alexander Acosta as his nominee for Secretary of Labor. Acosta is currently the dean of the Florida International University College of Law and previously served as an assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. His nomination followed Andy Puzder’s withdrawal from the confirmation process.
READ MORE
On Feb. 15, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, former CKE Restaurants CEO Andrew Puzder, withdrew from consideration
of the position. Prior to his withdrawal, Puzder was slated to appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for a hearing on
Thursday Feb. 16.
READ MORE
In its first two weeks, the Trump administration took a series of significant executive actions in the areas of federal regulation, infrastructure, manufacturing, trade, immigration and health care.
READ MORE
ABC’s General Counsel, Maury Baskin of Littler Mendelson, Washington, D.C., argued against the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) controversial “ambush” election final rule on March 3. Baskin argued against the rule, also known as Representation-Case Procedures, in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, New Orleans, La. on behalf of ABC of Texas, the Central Texas Chapter of ABC and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). A ruling in the case is expected in the late spring or early summer.
READ MORE
On Feb. 17, ABC sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) expressing concern over several regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
READ MORE
On Jan. 20, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil released a detailed Administrator’s Interpretation (AI) and related guidance on the definition of joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA). The new DOL guidance comes on the heels of recent, controversial expansion of the joint employer definition by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). According to the new DOL guidance, joint employment occurs “when an employee is employed by two (or more) employers such that the employers are responsible, both individually and jointly, to the employee for compliance with a statute.” In keeping with this broad definition, the AI provides multifactor tests to assist with the identification of horizontal and vertical joint employment, its two most common forms. The AI also gives examples of several industries, including construction, in which joint employment is likely to arise (e.g., workers who work for a sub-contractor and possibly a general contractor).
READ MORE
In its Jan. 29 decision in Guardsmark, LLC, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) extended its restriction on captive-audience meetings in the run up to a mail ballot union election by an additional 24 hours. Captive-audience meetings occur when an employer holds a group campaign meeting with employee voters during work hours to oppose union representation. The NLRB prohibits these meetings in the 24 hours leading up to the “scheduled time for conducting” a manual election; however, the NLRB had not imposed a similar preliminary ban in mail ballot elections until the Guardsmark decision.
READ MORE
ABC is encouraging all members to call on their Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor and support the “Protecting Local Business Opportunity Act” (S. 2015/ H.R. 3459). This important legislation will help provide additional stability for contractors, subcontractors and their employees by restoring the 30 year old “joint employer” standard, encouraging local business ownership and employee opportunity.
READ MORE