Last week the U.S. Department of Labor officially repealed the Trump rules on independent contractor status. Going back to the Obama Administration, the Trump rules loosened up a very strict or narrow definition of independent contractor that virtually had eliminated most forms of independent contractor status.

As EPTW has previously stated, President Biden is not just a pro-labor supporter in order to get their election endorsement. He is reportedly a true believer.

SE is getting quite a few questions from employers surrounding vaccination policy and practice. Employers are advised to make vaccination a voluntary practice.  In other words, do not mandate vaccinations if it is not absolutely necessary. Mandating vaccinations opens employers up to not just employee relations issues but as of last week, OSHA would also require employers that mandate vaccines to record adverse reactions from the vaccination as a recordable workplace illness on their...

With the reality that the loss of a loved one can be one of the most difficult challenges a person will ever face, most employers have provided a bereavement benefit consisting of three days (sometimes more) of pay. The historical purpose for this benefit was so an employee could make funeral arrangements but has not historically provided a lot of time for the personal grieving process.

Last week the National Labor Relations Board finished tallying the union election votes at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama warehouse facility. The union lost – 1,798 against vs. 738 votes for unionization. A huge defeat for organized labor.

ASE is receiving calls asking whether worker pandemic safety rules are still in effect. Yes, they are. MIOSHA Emergency Rules put in place last October remain in effect until at least April 16^th and are, at this point with Michigan cases on the rise, expected to be extended possibly for another six months.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that an employer committed an unfair labor practice when it fired an employee for participating in an interview with a journalist about minimum wage law in Arkansas.

Last week the CDC published guidance for employer vaccination programs. The CDC is encouraging employers to promote the value of getting vaccinated as soon as possible. This includes building employee confidence toward getting vaccinated, helping determine when employees can get vaccinated, deciding whether onsite or offsite vaccination programs make sense to promote, and suggestions about how to avoid workers unexpectedly having to be off work due to vaccine side effects.

Vaccine passports, documentation that an individual received a vaccination and is presumably better protected against a virus or has recently been tested and found negative, are being debated and considered by many before allowing employees to return to work. Having one’s shots to travel internationally is not new. But expanding the use of a vaccine passport for entry into concert venues, sport events, or using that passport to come to work is new.

Skill:  noun – In the workplace it is “A particular ability that you develop through training and experience and that is useful in a job.”

Skilling: noun/verb – Also in the workplace is “The action of training a worker to do a particular task.”

ASE’s 2019/20 Michigan Policies and Practices Survey reports that although most employers offer all necessary time off to employees that are in the military or national guard, most do not offer any supplemental pay to employees that go on military leave for such activities as annual National Guard training or Army Reserve active duty services.  Based upon a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision handed down at the start of February, this may be about to change.

One (or two) questions that have been brought to ASE by employers when requesting a review of their employee handbook over the last year has been, do we need a COVID-19 policy? And/or what other policies do I need to have in place given the pandemic?

The Governor’s office has formed a diverse group of leaders, including business, to work with and assist with its COVID vaccination campaign. As vaccination ramps up in Michigan, employers will benefit from inoculated healthy and safe workers. However, it is recognized that education is needed about how and when workers can line up for the COVID-19 vaccination.

As stated previously in EPTW, the Biden Administration is moving fast to rewrite the Trump Administration’s labor policy and regulations. Following the quick replacement of key Trump era National Labor Relations Board personnel, last week Congressional Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate re-enrolled the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, (PRO). It had been previously passed in the House last year but went no further. Unlike the often temporary regulatory and decision-based policy...

President Biden is unabashedly pro labor – no surprise there. One of the very first actions he took when he stepped into the Oval Office last month was to fire the NLRB General Counsel (GC) and the Assistant General Counsel. Somewhat of a surprise there, because they had some time left to their terms. Biden appointed Peter Sung Ohr as NLRB General Counsel (Acting) last week and almost immediately Mr. Ohr rescinded no less than 10 directives issued by his predecessor Peter Robb...