Government Affairs Update

INTERNATIONAL TRAINING FORUMNEIL REICHENBERG

IPMA-HR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ipma-hr.org

Outline

OverviewBudget/EconomyOvertimeEEO-4Paycheck Fairness

ActHealthcare ReformFLSA Case BriefAdministrative

Procedure Act Case Brief

Emergency Unemployment Comp.

Minimum WageWorkforce Innovation &

Opportunity ActFMLA Proposed Rule on

Same-Sex MarriageExecutive Orders on

Sexual OrientationPregnancy

Discrimination Guidelines

1st Amendment Case

Mood of the Country

“Americans are unhappy” More than 70% believe the country is headed in the

wrong direction Almost 60% are angry enough to carry protest signs 49% believe the economy is still in a recession 79% are dissatisfied with the political system 71% believe the economic problems are due to the

inability of elected officials to get things done to improve the economy

President Obama’s overall job ratings are in the 40’s and only 14% approve of the job Congress is doing

Overview

Congress returned from its summer vacation and has already adjourned until after the election Continuing resolution funding the government through

December 11th has been passed

Focus of the House is on oversight/investigations/suing President Obama

For the first time in 25 years of polling, over half (51%) say they disapprove of the job that their member of Congress is doing

Overview

The election will result in continued control of the House of Representatives by the Republicans

Uncertainty as to who will control the Senate

Congress will return following the election, although its agenda is uncertain

Budget Issues

There was a 16 day partial shutdown of the government last year It was estimated that the shutdown took at least $24 billion

out of the US economy with federal employees missing 6.6 million days of work

Debt ceiling suspension through March 15, 2015 signed by the President

Economy

In August, 142,000 jobs were added and the unemployment rate was 6.1% 54 consecutive months of job growth

Labor underutilization rate in August was 12%Government added 8,000 jobs (local +4,000/state +

1,000/federal +1,000)Since the beginning of the year, government has

added 88,000 jobs while the overall economy has added 1,440,000 jobs Since mid-2009, when the recession officially ended,

government has lost over 650,000 jobs

Overtime Regulations

President has directed the Secretary of Labor to revise the FLSA overtime regulations for executive, administrative, and professional employees

To be considered exempt, employees must be paid at least $455/week – this amount is expected to be increased

The duties tests for each of the exemptions are likely to be revised

Labor Department indicated that the proposed regulations may be released in November

IPMA-HR will be involved in the revisions

Overtime Legislation

Senator Harkin (D-IA) & 8 Senate Democrats have introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay for Working Americans Act (S 2486)

The overtime salary threshold would be increased over three years to $1,090/week and indexed for inflation

The threshold for highly-compensated employees would be increased over three years from $100,000 to $125,000/year & indexed

EEO-4

On July 29th, the EEOC approved a modification to the EEO-4 reporting form to allow respondents to select more than one race/ethnicity similar to the EEO-1 for the private sector

A request for public comment has been published with a due date of October 28th

The EEOC advised that the revisions will be effective for the 2015 reporting cycle

IPMA-HR has written to the EEOC urging this modification

Paycheck Fairness Act

The Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 2199) was reconsidered by the Senate and a vote on cloture (a vote to end debate) did not receive the required 60 votes

This is the 2nd time the vote has been taken this year

IPMA-HR joined with 23 other national associations on a letter expressing opposition to S. 2199

Paycheck Fairness Act allows for unlimited punitive and compensatory damages for employers found to be liable of sex-based wage discrimination

Healthcare Reform

Over 8 million people have signed up for insurance through the health exchanges

Recent polling shows that 56% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Conflicting rulings have been issued by appellate courts as to whether the ACA allows subsidies to those who sign up through the federal exchange DC Circuit ruled that subsidies can’t flow through the federal

exchange – full court will review the decision 4th Circuit found that subsidies were permissible – appeal has

been filed with the US Supreme Court

Healthcare Reform

IPMA-HR supports the “Forty Hours is Full-Time Act,” which passed the House of Representatives

The bill would increase the threshold for ACA coverage to 40 hours per week or 174 hours per month

Employers have been cutting their employees hours to less than 30 hours/ to avoid week to avoid having to provide health insurance

FLSA Case Brief

IPMA-HR joined with several other state and local government associations in filing an amicus brief in an FLSA case (Integrity Staffing Solutions v. Busk) pending before the US Supreme Court

Issue is whether security screenings at the end of each shift that occur after clocking out are compensable

Only those activities that are both “integral and indispensable” to principal work activities are compensable

Administrative Procedure Act Amicus Brief

IPMA-HR will join other state/local government associations in filing an amicus brief in a Supreme Court case (Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association)

 The case raises the issue of whether a federal agency must engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking before it can significantly alter an interpretive rule of an agency regulation

DOL issued an opinion letter saying mortgage loan officers were exempt employees – 4 years later, DOL withdrew the opinion letter in an Administrator’s Interpretation that reached the opposite conclusion

Case was brought on behalf of employers who believed that DOL should be required to issue notice and allow public comment before changing an interpretation relied on by employers

The brief will argue that notice and comment is legally required when significant changes are contemplated

Emergency Unemployment Compensation

Emergency unemployment compensation program ended on December 28th

Senate passed a 5 month extension retroactive to December 28th – Bill not considered by the House

Senators Reed/Heller introduced a new bill (S 2532) to extend unemployment insurance benefits prospectively Bill would be fully paid for and would allow those who

were cutoff on 12/28 to pick up where they left offAn estimated 2.4 million people have lost their long-

term unemployment benefitsCongress is not likely to extend the program

Minimum Wage

Legislation has been introduced that would increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2015 Current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour

Polls show widespread support for increasing the minimum wage

Senate bill failed to get the 60 votes needed to be considered

11 states and several local governments have increased their minimum wages

President raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contractors

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

The President has signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act which is designed to streamline & modernize the federal job training programs

Key provisions: Ensuring accessible one-stop centers & training providers Enhancing the flexibility of funds Setting common performance indicators for all core programs Eliminating 15 ineffective programs Better alignment of disability programs

FMLA Proposed Rule

The Labor Department issued a proposed rule extending the protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act to all eligible employees in legal same-sex marriages regardless of where they live

Under the proposed rule, eligibility for FMLA protections would be based on the law of the place where the marriage was entered into, allowing all legally married couples, whether opposite-sex or same-sex, to have consistent federal family leave rights regardless whether the state in which they currently reside recognizes such marriages

Sexual Orientation Executive Orders

President Obama signed executive orders prohibiting companies receiving federal contracts from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity and prohibiting the federal government from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Pregnancy Discrimination Guidelines

EEOC issued guidance on pregnancy discrimination - http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm

Employers are required to offer light-duty work to pregnant employees if they make light duty available to non-pregnant employees who are similar in their ability or inability to work

US Supreme Court will review a case (Young v. UPS) in which the 4th Circuit ruled that UPS was not required to offer light duty to pregnant employees with work restrictions, even if light duty is available for certain categories of non-pregnant employees

First Amendment Case

The US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Lane v. Franks that the 1st Amendment protects a public employee who provides truthful sworn testimony outside the scope of his ordinary job responsibilities

The court limited the scope of the decision to those employees whose ordinary job duties did not include testifying in court proceedings A concurring opinion noted the court did not address the

different question whether a public employee speaks as a citizen when he testifies in the course of his ordinary job responsibilities

IPMA-HR filed a brief in support of the employer

Questions?Contact: Neil Reichenberg nreichenberg@ipma-hr.orgor call (703) 549-7100