EFCA Legislation may be Introduced as early as March 9, 2009

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Michael Moore

The Employee Free Choice Act will reportedly be introduced in Congress on Monday, March 9, 2009 according to the National Association of Manufacturers blog called The ShopFloor.   Unions are mobilizing their membership for passage by targeting legislators with messages like the following one appearing on the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO:

On Monday, March 9th Congressman George Miller and Senator Ted Kennedy are expected to introduce the Employee Free Choice Act into the House of Representatives. 

This is the first step in the long fight to make the Employee Free Choice Act the law in this country. We have a lot of work to do, including convincing Senator Feinstein that the Employee Free Choice Act is good for workers, our communities and critical to rebuilding our economy because it opens the door for us to earn better wages, health care and retirement benefits by signing a card to join a union.

Meanwhile, President Obama reportedly told AFL-CIO leaders that EFCA will pass giving his backing to the bill according to a Wall Street Journal report.  One labor scholar has begun an EFCA Countdown, while acknowledging EFCA's passage may be a bloody fight.

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Bad News: Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Paycheck Fairness Act Pass the House.

Posted on January 9, 2009 by Michael Moore

Congress has passed The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (H.R. 11) and The Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12). Anaylsis of the new legislation to come.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is discussed in a prior post on Record Retention Nightmare Created by Ledbetter Fair Pay Act .  The Paycheck Fairness Act changes the burden of proof in gender based pay claims requiring the employer to affirmatively demonstrate that any pay differential is not based on sex. Employers who cannot meet this burden face unlimited compensatory and punitive damages. The EEOC would be required to collect employer payroll information based on sex, race, and national origin thereby targeting its enforcement activities. The Bill also changed rules on class actions automatically including employees in such claims unless they specifically opt out.  PFA subjects employers to wage related class actions with unlimited damages and makes it easier for employees to prove such claims.

Ann Bares analyzes the impact of the new law from a compensation perspective in her post: Dear Legislators: A Missing Link to Paycheck Fairness?

 

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