©SHRM 2014 D D Leading People. Leading Organizations. WASHINGTON UPDATE SHRM CLA Webinar February...

©SHRM 2014

DD

Leading People. Leading Organizations.

WASHINGTON UPDATEWASHINGTON UPDATE

SHRM CLA WebinarFebruary 5, 2014Kathleen Coulombe, Senior Advisor, Government RelationsChatrane Birbal, Senior Advisor, Government RelationsNancy Hammer, Senior Government Affairs Policy Counsel

©SHRM 2014

2

©SHRM 2014

Agenda• Latest news from inside Washington

• Policy Issues for 2014

• Regulatory action to watch

• Q&A

©SHRM 2014

3

©SHRM 2014

©SHRM 2014

4

©SHRM 2014

Congress Job Approval: 13% in January, Up Slightly December

Gallup, January 14, 2014

©SHRM 2014

5

©SHRM 2014

State of the Union• Laid out presidential priorities, including:

• Minimum Wage Increase• Government Sponsored Retirement• Immigration Reform• Compensation Equity• Unemployment Insurance Extension

©SHRM 2014

6

©SHRM 2014

Public Policy Items in 2014• Debt Ceiling Increase

• Unemployment Insurance Extension

• Retirement Security & Tax Reform

• Labor Relations

• Health Care

• Immigration Reform

©SHRM 2014

7

©SHRM 2014

Debt Ceiling Increase

• U.S will hit the debt ceiling on Friday, February 7.

• Treasury Department will be able to take action that delays ceiling through end of February.

• Congress likely to act.

©SHRM 2014

8

©SHRM 2014

Unemployment Insurance Extension• Attempts at passing an extension failed mid-January despite the Senate invoking cloture.

• Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has revived the effort this week.

• In an effort to garner republican support, Leader Reid offered Sen. Jack Reed’s (D-RI) amendment to S 1845 that would extend EUC through March 31st and seek to “pay for” the extension largely through a pension smoothing proposal that would permit employers to reduce pension contributions, resulting in money available to be spent in the economy and presumably increase tax revenue.

• The amendment would also prohibit the payment of unemployment compensation (UI,EB or EUC) to individuals with annual adjusted gross income of $1 million or more in the year prior to their applying for unemployment compensation. This is similar to an earlier proposal from Senator Coburn (R-OK) and includes not only the prohibition against making such payments but no federal funding for administration of the provision. The provision would affect a very small number of applicants but provides some savings.

"What we are going to do is offer a fully paid for three-month extension of unemployment insurance.“

Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV)

©SHRM 2014

9

©SHRM 2014

Retirement Security & Tax Reform• President unveiled MYRA during the State of the Union.

• Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced the Universal, Secure, and Adaptable (USA) Retirement Funds Act of 2014.

• Expect legislation to be introduced and marked up in the House Ways and Means Committee by Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI), focusing on tax reform.

• SHRM continues to advocate on this issues as Chair of the Coalition to Protect Retirement

©SHRM 2014

10

©SHRM 2014

Labor Relations• President Obama and Congressional Democrats have initiated national

conversation on “income equity,” advocating for increasing the minimum wage and passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. Proposal of increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 was raised in the State of the Union.

• 76% of Americans are in favor of a wage increase.

©SHRM 2014

11

©SHRM 2014

Labor Relations

©SHRM 2014

12

©SHRM 2014

Health Care

©SHRM 2014

13

©SHRM 2014

Immigration ReformHouse Republicans Release Standards

Employment Verification and Workplace Enforcement“In the 21st century it is unacceptable that the majority of employees have their work eligibility verified through a paper based system wrought with fraud. It is past time for this country to fully implement a workable electronic employment verification system.”

©SHRM 2014

14

©SHRM 2014

SHRM and Council supports:

Creation of a fully electronic verification system that integrates the paper-based Form I-9 into the E-Verify system and moves toward a more secure system that authenticates identity and verifies employment eligibility providing better certainty that the person being hired is authorized to work in the U.S.

Providing employers with a voluntary option to use a knowledge-based authentication (KBA) system if they used it for 100 percent of their new-hire verifications to assure the highest level of certainty, significantly improving the prevention of identity theft in the employment verification process.

Strengthening the safe harbor for employers for decisions made based on information provided by the E-Verify system.

©SHRM 2014

15

©SHRM 2014

Specifically, we are seeking an amendment that would:

Streamline the employment verification process with a voluntary identity authentication mechanism as a fully available option to employers for employment verification within 18 months of enactment.

The voluntary identity authentication program will use multi-dimensional technology to verify an individual’s identity through publicly available databases (including Social Security, Homeland Security, U.S.-VISIT and passport and visa).

This voluntary authentication program replaces a four-stage, document driven process with modern tools to prevent the use of stolen identities to achieve work approval.

This new approach of identity authentication is needed because the verification system in the bill remains vulnerable to identity theft.

©SHRM 2014

16

©SHRM 2014

Support the Identity Authentication Amendment to H.R. 1772 (Legal Workforce Act) and Make E-Verify More Reliable, Secure

H.R. 1772 mandates E-Verify for all employers, but does not provide for adequate identity authentication – failing to protect against unauthorized workers and leaving employers unfairly open to liability.

Adopt an identity authentication amendment, which would preserve H.R. 1772’s underlying E-Verify requirements and add a critical but voluntary step for employers to accurately verify identity.

A coalition of Washington, DC based organizations are meeting with House members to garner support. Representatives of the meat and poultry industry, in-house immigration professionals and the human resources professionals – including the Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition (FMIC), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Council for Global Immigration and the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) – support the Identity Authentication Amendment to H.R. 1772.

©SHRM 2014

17

©SHRM 2014

A-Team Target States 2010-2014 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Alabama Delaware

Colorado Alaska Hawaii

Arkansas Illinois

Connecticut Arizona Kentucky

Florida

Nevada

Georgia Louisiana Massachusetts

Kansas

New Mexico

Idaho Michigan Mississippi

Maine

Ohio

Indiana Minnesota Missouri

Nebraska

Oregon

Iowa Montana New Jersey

New York

Pennsylvania

Maryland New Hampshire North Dakota

Rhode Island

Texas

Oklahoma North Carolina South Dakota

Washington

Virginia

Tennessee South Carolina Utah

Wisconsin

West Virginia

Wyoming Vermont

California

California California California California

For more information about the A-Team contact, Chatrane Birbal [email protected] or

703/535-6476.

©SHRM 2014©SHRM 2014

18

©SHRM 201419

Hear from thought-provoking, informed keynote speakers who will dissect the issues of the day, including an up-to-the-minute analysis of politics and the upcoming 2014 elections and behind-the-scenes views of the Supreme Court.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

PAUL BEGALA,Political analyst, commentator and professor atGeorgetown University.

TUCKER CARLSON,Co-host, “Fox and Friends Weekend,” and editor-in-chief,“The Daily Caller.”

JEFFREY TOOBIN,Best-selling author and staff writer forThe New Yorker.

CARLY FIORINA,Chairman of GOOD360 and Former California Senate Candidate.

MIKE AITKEN,SHRM's Vice President of Government Affairs.

©SHRM 2014

20

©SHRM 2014

State of the Union, January 2014

“Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”


White Housefocus on long-term unemployment

• final stage; 31 rules at the proposed stage

21

U.S. Department of LaborSecretary of Labor Tom Perez

East Room of the White HouseJanuary 31, 2014

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2014/01/31/remarks-president-giving-long-term-unemployed-fair-shot


U.S. Department of Labor - OLMS

• Persuader rule – date pushed off until March 2014

Proposed rule published June 21, 2011 and comments submitted Sept. 21.

For more than 50 years, DOL has distinguished between “direct” and “indirect” contact with employees, requiring direct contacts to be reported but NOT requiring the following types of advice to be reported: Providing draft speeches to an employer; training supervisors, drafting policies, etc.

DOL states that “the current interpretation of "advice" has resulted in significant underreporting of employer and consultant persuader agreements.

HR concern: Expanded definition is too broad and may drive consultants and law firms from the marketplace. Could include seminars and webinars.

22


U.S. Department of Labor - OFCCP• Possible Proposed Rules to Revise Sex Discrimination Guidelines

– Could be issued by May 2014– Current sex discrimination guidelines have not been updated in more than

30 years—regulatory lookback

• New Compensation Data Collection Tool– Could be issued early 2014– Used to identify contractor likely to engage in sex- and race-based

compensation discrimination– Industry-wide analysis

23


U.S. Department of Labor- WHD• Definition of “Spouse” under FMLA – expected March 2014

– Revised definition of spouse under FMLA in light of US v. Windsor

• Right to Know– Long-term initiative to enhance transparency under Fair Labor Standards

Act– Disclosure to workers of their status as the employer’s employee or

independent contractor status and, if an employee, how their pay is computed

– Proposed Worker Classification Survey at OMB for review and approval.• Many believe this survey will be used to justify the need for a right-to-

know rule

24


Healthcare Reform• Final Rule regarding the 90-day waiting period and other technical

amendments

• Nondiscrimination provisions under ACA– Prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, age and disability (section 1557 of ACA)

Final Rule from IRS on pay-or-play and reporting requirements

25


Equal Employment Opportunity Commission• Commissioner Chai Feldblum confirmed by Senate for another 5-year term on

Dec. 12

• New Issues:– November meeting on national origin discrimination in the workplace

• Unfinished Business:– May 2013 Wellness meeting– Leaves of absence as a reasonable accommodation under ADAAA– Credit Checks

• Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced Equal Employment for All Act (S. 1837)• Amends Fair Credit Reporting Act to prevent employers from discriminating

against employees on the basis of their credit report.• Exception for jobs that require a national security clearance or where credit

information is otherwise required by law.• Does NOT include exceptions for positions in the financial services or banking

industries.• 2010 EEOC meeting – part of its focus on eliminating barriers in employment

26


National Labor Relations Board • “Ambush” or “Quickie” Election Rule – No date set

– Initially introduced in June 2011– Makes changes to pre- and post- union election procedures in order to ease

unionization– Enforcement of the rule was stayed after the US District Court for the

District of Columbia held that the NLRB did not have a proper quorum to pass the rule.

– New NLRB properly appointed and renewed action on the rule expected

• National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning– Whether the President’s recess-appointment power may be exercised:(1) during a recess that occurs within a session of the Senate, or only those

that occur between sessions; (2) to fill vacancies that exist during a recess, or only those that first arose

during that recess; and (3) when the Senate is convening every three days in pro forma sessions.

27

©SHRM 2014 D D Leading People. Leading Organizations. WASHINGTON UPDATE SHRM CLA Webinar February...

Documents

Transcript of ©SHRM 2014 D D Leading People. Leading Organizations. WASHINGTON UPDATE SHRM CLA Webinar February...