Thursday, January 21, 2021
At noon, eastern standard time, on January 20, 2021, Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the 46th president of the United States, giving Democrats control of the executive branch, and, albeit by the thinnest of margins (with Vice President Kamala D. Harris presiding as president of the U.S. Senate), the legislative branch of the U.S. government for the first time since 2011. While that transition will, no doubt, impact a great many national and global issues, the focus of this article is the potential impact that this dynamic will have on U.S. labor law and policy.
Those who have been monitoring labor issues since 2008 largely know what to expect. After four years of more management-friendly labor policy, today the pendulum has started to swing in the direction of labor, just as it did in 2008. How far the pendulum swings and how fast is yet to be determined, but all signs indicate the swing could be significant. On the eve of the election, President Bid
Amazon, Aldi, Walmart, Trader Joe’s and other retailers begin to encourage workers to get the vaccine
Some stores say they will give employees paid time off and bonuses when COVID-19 vaccines are more broadly available.
Retailers are still trying to get priority status for their employees in the COVID-19 vaccine pipeline while they promote the shots to their workers with incentive offers to get vaccinated.
Amazon, which has 800,000 employees in the U.S., said Wednesday that it had an agreement with a health care provider to vaccinate workers at its Amazon fulfillment centers, AWS data centers and Whole Foods Market stores who can’t work from home.
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On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) approved a formal opinion letter clarifying that non-U.S. citizen employees of American employers working outside the United States need not be included in disclosures required to waive age discrimination claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), as amended by the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (“OWBPA”).
OWBPA Requirements for Releasing ADEA Claims
Employers conducting workforce reductions often seek a release of employment-related claims in exchange for severance. To release a claim of age discrimination under the federal ADEA (which protects individuals age 40 and over), any release agreement with a separated employee must comply with the requirements of the OWBPA. In that regard, when an employer requests a release in connection with an exit incentive or other employment termination program offer
Friday, January 22, 2021
SB 973, enacted on September 30, 2020, requires private employers of 100 or more employees (with at least one employee in California) to report pay and demographic data to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) by March 31, 2021 and annually thereafter. The DFEH recently has updated its FAQs to provide more details about the reporting process and has indicated it will further provide a User Guide and reporting Template by February 1, 2021.
The information that eligible employers must report includes two components:
The number of employees by race, ethnicity, and sex in ten different job title categories: (A) Executive or senior level officials and managers, (B) First or mid-level officials and managers, (C) Professionals, (D) Technicians, (E) Sales workers, (F) Administrative support workers, (G) Craft workers, (H) Operatives, (I) Laborers and helpers, and (J) Service workers; and