President-Elect Biden’s Agency Review Teams; First Shelter Dog in White House

Friday, November 13, 2020

Biden Company Overview Groups Introduced. President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his “company evaluation groups” to start evaluating company operations in anticipation of the shift in government energy in January 2021. The labor evaluation group (overseeing the U.S. Division of Labor (DOL), the Nationwide Labor Relations Board, and the U.S. Equal Employment Alternative Fee (EEOC), amongst different businesses) appears like a yearbook picture from the ultimate yr of President Barack Obama’s administration. People reminiscent of Jenny Yang (former EEOC chair), Seth Harris (former DOL deputy secretary and performing secretary), and Patricia Smith (former DOL solicitor) will be part of others from organized labor, academia, and progressive assume tanks in starting the preliminary overhaul of the DOL.

EEOC Replace. Three essential updates relating to insurance policies popping out of the EEOC are as follows:

Conciliation Feedback. November 9, 2020, was the deadline for stakeholders to submit feedback on the Fee’s proposed rule to offer “higher readability to the conciliation course of [by] enhanc[ing] the effectiveness of the method and ensur[ing] that the Fee meets its statutory obligations.”

Spiritual Pointers. This week, the Fee voted to ship an up to date draft of its Compliance Handbook Part on Spiritual Discrimination to the Workplace of Data and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) for evaluation previous to public remark. Based on a press launch, the adjustments replicate the altering panorama of federal jurisprudence on this matter and “embrace essential updates to the dialogue of protections for workers from non secular discrimination within the context of cheap lodging and harassment[,]” in addition to an expanded “dialogue of defenses which may be accessible to non secular employers.”

Wellness. This week, the EEOC additionally despatched proposed guidelines addressing employer sponsored wellness plans beneath the Individuals with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Data Nondiscrimination Act to OIRA.

OFCCP Remaining Rule on Discrimination Procedures. On November 10, 2020, the Workplace of Federal Contract Compliance Packages (OFCCP) printed a remaining rule entitled, “Nondiscrimination Obligations of Federal Contractors and Subcontractors: Procedures to Resolve Potential Employment Discrimination.” The rule codifies adjustments made in earlier OFCCP directives and is meant to extend the “transparency of OFCCP’s operations in order that contractors and OFCCP can resolve potential violations by a transparent, mutual understanding of the problems.” Partially, the rule units forth the several types of proof that OFCCP makes use of to assist the issuance of a Predetermination Discover (PDN) or Discover of Violation (NOV). The rule turns into efficient December 10, 2020.

NLRB Guidelines on Mail Ballots. This week the Nationwide Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a determination establishing the requirements for mail and handbook elections through the COVID-19 pandemic. Board coverage historically favors in-person elections, however since March, it has carried out 90 p.c of elections by way of mail as a result of security issues raised by the pandemic. The Board’s determination establishes six conditions, every one in all which is generally adequate to favor mail ballots in lieu of in-person voting. The conditions are:

“The Company workplace tasked with conducting the election is working beneath ‘obligatory telework’ standing.”

“Both the 14-day development within the variety of new confirmed instances of Covid-19 within the county the place the ability is situated is rising, or the 14-day testing positivity price within the county the place the ability is situated is 5 p.c or increased.”

“The proposed handbook election web site can’t be established in a method that avoids violating obligatory state or native well being orders referring to most gathering dimension.”

“The employer fails or refuses to decide to abide by GC Memo 20-10 [Suggested Manual Election Protocols] protocols.”

“There’s a present Covid-19 outbreak on the facility or the employer refuses to reveal and certify its present standing.”

“Different equally compelling concerns.”

DOL Appeals Joint-Employer Ruling. Late final week, the DOL filed its enchantment of a choice by the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York in State of New York v. Scalia that struck down the DOL’s joint-employer rule beneath the Honest Labor Requirements Act. As a result of the wheels of justice flip slowly, it is rather probably that this enchantment will likely be inherited by the following administration, which is able to probably not be occupied with defending the rule. Accordingly, the following administration will most likely search to pause the litigation whereas it critiques the rule and promulgates its personal joint-employer rule after which will ask the courtroom to dismiss the case as moot. Nonetheless, enterprise teams have been permitted to intervene within the case, and they’re going to undoubtedly have a say in the way it proceeds.

First Canines. Canines (and pets, usually) will likely be returning to the White Home in January 2021 after a four-year hiatus beneath President Donald Trump. President-elect Biden has two pooches, Champ and Main, the latter of which would be the first shelter canine to dwell within the White Home. Based on the Presidential Pet Museum, previous to President Trump, the final president to not have a pet was Andrew Johnson (except you depend the household of white mice he allegedly cared for throughout his impeachment hearings). James Polk was the one different president with none identified pets. On the opposite aspect of the spectrum, the president with probably the most pets was Theodore Roosevelt, who tallied up about 48 completely different pets through the years, together with a flying squirrel, two kangaroo rats, a snake named Emily Spinach, and a badger named Josiah.