Monday morning considerations for workplace observers

The Georgia Effect | EEOC late action | DOL unions in danger?

Ben Penn: The Biden transition Delay in appointing a labor secretary shouldn’t linger much longer. By the weekend, we might know if Boston Mayor Marty Walsh or California Secretary of Labor Julie Su is in charge of running the US Department of Labor.

Regardless of who is nominated, the result is the Georgia Senate Drains Tuesday will take into account how long it will take for the new head of labor to take office.

If any of Peach State’s GOP incumbents – Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are re-elected, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Will keep his gavel as majority leader. The Senate Working Committee would then be headed by a GOP chairman who would be inclined to subject the candidate for Labor Secretary to the President-Elect’s laborious process of validation. And even if that person clears the panel, there is no telling how long McConnell might wait to find the bottom time for a full confirmatory vote.

In this scenario, Joe Biden may have to wait until the second half of 2021 for his work choose to join the cabinet. Other selections such as the heads of the labor protection agency and the wages and hours department could deal with arrivals in 2022. Trump candidates for these agencies stood idle for long periods of time, something Republican lawmakers will remember when considering Biden’s nominations.

But if Challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock Both assert themselves in Georgia and leave control of the upper chamber to the Democrats with the least possible margin. For Biden employees it would be a smoother sailing.

In any case, the passage of important labor and employment laws such as the PRO Act would be a long way to go in this Congress, so the date of confirmation by those responsible for the agency is arguably the most important job-policy impact of the special elections this week.

The Biden transition still envisages a fallback plan to deploy incumbent officials and chiefs of staff at DOL and other agencies to make up for delays in the Senate and address urgent political priorities.

However, this approach carries risks that several former DOL politicians have warned about. If the Senate approves a labor secretary and other senior officials, they inherit a team they did not select. Predicting conflicts between management and politics.

If Ossoff and Warnock cause a stir in their traditionally red condition, Biden’s team could put a brake on the incumbent administrator’s plan and allow nominees to help nominate their team.

Paige Smith: The EEOC is not slowing down as the day of inauguration approaches. The Agency for Citizens’ Rights at Work is working on completion at least two rules in this week.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a meeting on Jan. 7 to vote on the final approval of two controversial rules: The first would change the placement process, an alternative method to litigation to resolve prejudice in the workplace, and the second would be limit how much time union representatives spend on federal employees can pretend complaints from employees during the clock.

A third point is also available for examination: an opinion letter According to an agency notice announcing the meeting, the Employment Age Discrimination Act will be dealt with in relation to rules on health insurance reimbursement for individuals.

The timing of these points is critical as the Biden transition team announced last week that they would be following in the footsteps of the last five presidents to interrupt any regulations that are not final by the day of inauguration. The five-member EEOC has a solid Republican majority, but the deadline could threaten regulatory issues still on the agency’s file.

One of those points is a change in policy that would do this brush with the General Counsel of the Sharon Gustafson agency their last remaining delegated authority. The agency withdrew some of Gustafson’s authority last year, but that would go a step further and limit it significantly.

Ian Kullgren: So late in the Trump administration, it’s fair to ask which rules that are still pending will cross the finish line and which will die a silent death. The latter fate seems to be waiting for a pair of DOLs Rules that would strengthen trade union reporting.

The first rule, proposed in December 2019, would bring the public sector to an intermediate level Union chapters subject to financial reporting requirements for private trade unions. Currently, many large public sector union members are not required to file financial disclosure forms with the Labor Management Standards Office because they only represent members of the public sector. This would change under the proposed rule that many state, regional and county offices would be required to submit information as the “intermediate body” of a national union representing both private and public workers.

The second rule proposed in September 2020 would Adding reporting requirements for many of the largest unions, This includes more detailed accounting for strike funds, investments, asset sales, lobbying, reorganization and collective bargaining expenses. The new LM-2 long-form disclosure form would primarily apply to unions with sales of $ 8 million or more.

With only 16 days until Biden took office Observers say it is unlikely that DOL will be able to complete either rule. The long-form LM-2 rule’s comment period just ended on December 14th. No final version had been sent to the White House until last week.

The rule of the intermediate bodies has also decreased since the end of the public comment period in February 2020. Still, the Trump administration said in its fall 2020 regulatory agenda that Both rules would be finalized and approved in January 2021. It was also planned to propose revisions to another union disclosure form, which certainly would not be completed by January 20.

Even if The rules are final – and that’s a big if –Expect them to be picked up quickly from the Biden administration. The Obama administration was already repealing the intermediate-body rule introduced under President George W. Bush in 2010, and Biden would have little problem doing the same.

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