The Labor & Employment Blog is a forum for practitioners and Bloomberg BNA editors to share ideas, raise issues, and network with colleagues.
December 30, 2011
by Amber McKinney
Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to focus on worksite investigations targeting companies and managers, instead of focusing only on undocumented workers. A San Diego-area bakery, its owner, and manager were each sentenced in federal court Dec. 22 on charges stemming from a four-year probe by Immigration and Customs Enforcement into hiring undocumented workers.
December 27, 2011
by Laura D. Francis
In federal employee news, MSPB's oral argument focuses more on its authority to decide if the Postal Service's violation of its own internal rules also violates federal regulations, rather than the actual answer to that question, while the president and OPM remind federal employees that there still is a pay freeze in effect. On the state and local front, a tentative deal for about 5,000 New Jersey state employees is causing a larger state employee union to question whether it now can negotiate an acceptable contract.
December 19, 2011
by Lydell C. Bridgeford
Hours before attending a forum commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Kathleen Martinez, assistant labor secretary, sat down with BNA to discuss ODEP’s influence on public policy aimed at increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
December 16, 2011
Arizona continues to be the epicenter of the nation’s immigration debate with two new developments this week. First, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review whether Arizona's controversial S.B. 1070, that among other things makes it a state criminal offense for an undocumented alien to seek employment, is preempted by federal immigration law. In addition, the Justice Department announced its findings in an ongoing civil rights investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona.
December 14, 2011
How long does it take for the National Labor Relations Board to hold a secret ballot election? Too long, says the NLRB, which decided Nov. 30 to proceed with a rule aimed at cutting the time between a union’s request for a representation election and the election itself. Not long enough, say House Republicans, who, on the very same day, succeeded in passing a bill to set a minimum waiting time before elections can be held.
December 9, 2011
There’s been a lot going on in the labor world in the past couple weeks, and the biggest story of all, announced today, is that the National Labor Relations Board is dropping its unfair labor practice complaint against Boeing.
December 7, 2011
So, what does the ADA Amendments Act really mean for practitioners analyzing issues pertaining to reasonable accommodations? This week, Daily Labor Report’s Kevin McGowan covered a webinar hosted by the American Bar Association, where EEOC Commissioners Chai Feldblum and Victoria Lipnic shed some light on the question. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance first issued in 1999 and updated in 2002 is still the starting point for analysis, the commissioners said. But the ADA Amendments Act, which took effect nearly two years ago, “sort of hit the reset button,” Feldblum said, adding that the agency is re-evaluating its guidance, anticipating that employers and courts will have an increased focus on the issue.
December 6, 2011
In federal employee news,Washington, D.C., commuters may avoid another "commut-a-geddon" this winter season with OPM's new federal employee early dismissal tools, while the MSPB is set to hold another oral argument--this time focusing on what the Postal Service has to do when reinstating employees who are partially recovered from injuries. In state and local news, 34,000 Ohio state employees get state approval on a bargaining contract soon after voters reject a law that would have curbed public employee collective bargaining rights.
December 5, 2011
BNA recently reached out to two management-side attorneys to discuss some key moving elements in the longstanding requirement that federal contractors submit workforce data to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, as well as the implications of a recent court decision in a contractor's challenge to OFCCP's reporting requirements.
December 2, 2011
Public Sector Roundup: Will Sequestration Continue Into Fiscal Year 2014?
Q&A: When Does an OFCCP Audit Become Litigation Worthy?
Congressional Roundup: Republican Comp Time Bill Gets a Vote
Labor Stats and Facts: Decertifications Are Down, but Unions Shouldn't Celebrate
EEO Roundup: Valuing Employment Discrimination Claims