Littler Workplace Policy Institute

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the government agency tasked with setting and enforcing workplace safety standards. As part of the Department of Labor, OSHA has recently seen a great deal of regulatory activity. WPI Co-Chair Ilyse Schuman interviews Ben Huggett, a shareholder at Littler’ Philadelphia office, and discusses the developments at OSHA and how they impact almost all areas of employment.

Topics include:

• Reporting of severe injuries

• Electronic injury and illness tracking requirements, including the impact on drug testing and safety incentive programs

• Increases in penalties for all violations

• Whistleblower protections

• The Zika virus

Like many other multiemployer pension plans, the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund was hit very hard by the financial crisis in 2008. In response, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, was amended to allow Central States and other critically underfunded plans to remain solvent through the approval of a so-called “rescue plan.” On May 6, 2016, Central States’ proposed Rescue Plan was rejected by the IRS. This would have huge implications not just for the employers who contribute to the plan, but also for the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) and for participants and retires. Joining the WPI to examine the implications of the rejection of Central State’s plan was Littler shareholder Mike Congiu.

In early April, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule to re-define who is rendered a "fiduciary" of an employee benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by providing investment advice to a plan or its participants or beneficiaries. More than five years in the making, issuance of a final rule to address conflicts-of-interest in retirement advice has been a priority for the White House and DOL to advance its “middle-class economics” agenda in the face of criticism in Congress and by a number of stakeholders.

The final rule replaces 1975 regulations on fiduciary investment advice with a definition that, according to the DOL, “better reflects the broad scope of the statutory text and its purposes and better protects plans, participants, beneficiaries, and IRA owners from conflicts of interest, imprudence, and disloyalty.”

WPI Co-Chair Ilyse Schuman interviewed Littler shareholders and Co-Chairs of the Employee Benefits Practice Group Melissa Kurtzman and Steven Friedman about the changes made in the final rule and what it means for your business and retirement plans.

With the ongoing deadlock in Washington, D.C., an increasing amount of policy change is taking place at the state level. Nowhere is this more evident than in the states of New York and California, which have recently made substantial changes to their wage and hour laws. The governors of both states have signed legislation that will raise their minimum wage to $15 an hour, and at the same time California is expanding their paid sick leave law. These and other issues will have huge impacts on any groups doing business in those states.

WPI Co-Chair Ilyse Schuman interviewed Littler shareholders Bruce Millman and Bruce Sarchet along with Mike Whatley, director of state and local affairs at the National Restaurant Association. Together they explained the initiatives you should be aware of in these two states, what they mean for businesses operating there and how these efforts fit in to the national picture. Also discussed was how these measures reflect larger trends across the country in other states and localities.

This month WPI Co-Chair Ilyse Schuman, along with Littler expert and EEO & Diversity Group Co-Chair Barry Hartstein, examin the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and what employers can expect from the Commission during the last year of the Obama Administration. The EEOC has been extremely active of late, and Barry looks ahead to important developments likely in the coming year both at the Agency and in the courts, including the important EEOC v. Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC case. Barry also discussed highlights of Littler’s Annual Report on EEOC Developments for FY 2015.

Littler’s David Goldstein, Allan King and Kevin offer an examination of the proposed changes to the Employer Information Report (EEO-1) put out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The proposal would require employers with 100 or more employees to provide data on employee compensation and hours. Smaller employers would have new reporting obligations as well. We also discuss the EEOC’s call for public comment on a new retaliation enforcement guidance. That 76-page proposal appears to expand the definition of "protected activity," and broaden the basis for proving the causal link between the protected activity and the contested employer action.

State and Local Paid Leave Laws, Libby Henninger, 5.15.15 by Littler

Mary Kissel, Member of Editorial Board and Host of OpinionJournal, The Wall Street Journal, talks about the U.S. economy and immigration reform

Barry Hartstein, shareholder @ Littler, talks about EEOC enforcement guidance on pregnancy discrimination