As 2016 comes to a close, there is understandable concern about and interest in changes to employment laws and regulations that may be initiated by a new federal administration. Although enforcement and regulatory priorities of agencies like the Department of Labor and the EEOC may be altered, it’s important to remember that the pace of bureaucratic change can be slow, and that Congress and the courts will remain in the mix. We believe that it’s almost impossible to predict the pace of change or the ultimate impact of the new administration’s agenda.
Even with the prospect of change ahead, it’s valuable to look back on the year just ending and note important trends in key areas.
EEOC Highlights
Wage & Hour Highlights
As everyone surely knows by now, the Department of Labor’s expansion of overtime protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act was finalized in May, scheduled to take effect in December, and stopped by a temporary injunction in late November when 21 states and several business groups went to federal court in Texas. The Texas court’s injunction has been appealedto the Fifth Circuit, the battle in the lower court continues, and so far the DOL says it will continue to fight for implementation of the rules.
The overtime injunction wasn’t the only setback for the DOL this year. In May, the agency issued its controversial “persuader rule,” requiring employers to disclose any arrangement with outside consultants in which the consultants attempt to influence employee unionization efforts. In November, a court issued a permanent order declaring the rule unlawful.
There was a lot of activity at the state and local levels related to minimum wage. Twenty-five states, cities, and counties approved minimum wage increases for 11.8 million workers in 2016. In the November elections, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington approved ballot measures to increase their state’s minimum wages, while South Dakota voters rejected an attempt to lower the minimum wage for youth workers. California, Oregon, New York City, and Washington D.C. approved future increases.
Leave Laws & Policies
Employee leavesalso received a lot of attention this year. The DOL issued new FMLA guidance and a new FMLA poster, and the EEOC issued a resource pageon employer-provided leaves under the ADA.
Sexual Harassment & Sexual Assault
Unfortunately, sexual assault and sexual harassment continue to be a major problem in the workplace. We’ve written about it a lot this year. The EEOC issued a report with recommendations for harassment prevention.
National attention was drawn to these issues in 2016. Gretchen Carlson’s allegations and suit concerning former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes was major news. Several high-profile cases of sexual assault and harassment on college campuses drew national attention, most recently in our home state of Minnesota. And sexual assault and harassment became an issue for both Democrats and Republicansin this year’s presidential campaign.
Those are the 2016 developments and trends that strike us as particularly important, but they aren’t the only ones. There have been many other developments in employment law this year, as others have observed.
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Thanks for reading The Employment Law Navigator this year. We’re going to take next week off, but will be back with our next That is So Last Week recap on Tuesday, January 3. Happy holidays to all!
