Core Provisions: This legislation would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers with multiple employees to provide paid annual leave to employees. Specifically, the bill requires employers with at least 100 employees to provide at least one week of paid vacation. Additionally, three years after enactment of the legislation, employers with 100 or more employees must provide at least two weeks of paid vacation, and employers with at least 50 employees must provide at least one week of paid vacation. Both full- and part-time workers would be eligible for leave after one year of employment.

Status: H.R. 2564 was introduced by Rep. Grayson (D-FL) on May 21, 2009 and referred to the Committee on Education and Labor.

Core Provisions: The bill would amend Section 3(m)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act to increase the base minimum wage for tipped employees. “Tipped employees” are employees that customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. Employers are currently required to pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour.

Under the bill, the base minimum pay for tipped employees would increase in a three-step process. Within 90 days of the bill becoming law, employers would be required to pay tipped employees at least $3.75 per hour. As of July 1, 2011, employers must pay tipped employees at least $5.00 per hour. Finally, as of July 1, 2012, employers must pay tipped employees at least 70% of the minimum wage for non-tipped employees, and no less than $5.50 per hour. The bill also requires the Secretary of Labor to provide notice of each wage increase in the Federal Register and on the Department of Labor website. 

Status:  Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) introduced the bill on May 21, 2009, and it was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor that same day.

Core Provisions: This legislation would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act to allow employees to take leave to address domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects. Employees could also take leave under the Act to care for a family member addressing these issues. The bill defines “addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and their effects” broadly to include seeking medical attention or legal assistance related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; attending support groups; obtaining psychological counseling; participating in safety planning; and participating in any other activity which must be undertaken during hours of employment and is necessitated by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill would also include same-sex spouses and domestic partners under the Act.

Status: H.R. 2515 was introduced by Rep. Woolsey (D-CA) on May 20, 2009 and referred to the committees on Education and Labor; Oversight and Government Reform; and Administration.

Core Provisions: On May 19, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved an amendment to the pending American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (”ACESA”) bill that, among other things, would make the Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage rate requirements applicable to construction projects that are financed in whole or in part by the guaranteed loans established by the ACESA. 

Specifically, the amendment would require any borrower receiving loans under the ACESA to provide the Secretary of Energy with “reasonable assurances that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors in the performance of construction work financed in whole or in part by the guaranteed loan” will receive wages at least equal to prevailing wages on similar projects governed by the Davis-Bacon Act.

Status: The amendment to the bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) on May 19, 2009, and was approved by the Committee on May 19, 2009.

Core Provisions: As passed by the House on June 8, 2009, the bill would amend the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act to extend its prohibition against discrimination and acts of reprisal against armed service members to include persons who receive treatment for illnesses, injuries, and disabilities incurred in or aggravated by service in the uniformed services. The amended statute would therefore prohibit employers from discriminating or making any adverse employment decision against a veteran on the basis of that employee or applicant’s receipt of treatment for an illness, injury, or disability determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have been incurred in or aggravated by uniformed service.

The bill as passed by the House would further establish certain rights of veterans absent from employment for a military service-connected disability. These employees would be: 1) entitled to be retained by the employer and 2) entitled to the seniority and other rights and benefits determined by seniority the veteran had on the date of the treatment for the disability, plus the additional seniority and rights and benefits the veteran would have attained had he or she remained continuously employed. In addition, these employees would be deemed to be on furlough or a leave of absence while receiving treatment for a military service-connected disability, and therefore would be entitled to other non-seniority rights and benefits generally provided by the employer to employees having similar seniority, status, and pay who are on furlough or a leave of absence.

Employees would not be entitled to such non-seniority rights and benefits if the employee provides written notice to the employer of having no intent to return to employment following medical treatment.  Further, employers would not be required to retain a covered veteran if: 1) circumstances have so changed to make retention impossible or unreasonable, 2) retention would pose an undue hardship on the employer, or 3) the employment in question is for a brief, nonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable expectation that it will continue indefinitely or for a significant period.

The House version of the bill also would permit any veteran absent from work due to treatment for a military service-connected disability to use any accrued vacation, annual, medical, or similar leave with pay to cover such time away from work, although an employer cannot require a veteran to do so.

Status: Rep. Doggett (D-TX) introduced the Wounded Veteran Job Security Act on January 13, 2009 and it was referred to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The bill was reported with amendments to the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and placed on the Union Calendar on May 19, 2009. The bill was passed by the House in a voice vote on June 8, 2009. The bill will now move to the Senate.

Core Provisions:  This legislation would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to require group health plans and issuers of health insurance coverage to provide coverage for second medical opinions. Coverage for second opinions would have to be under the same terms as coverage for initial opinions. The bill contains an exception for group health plans maintained pursuant to collective bargaining agreements.

Status: H.R. 2457 was introduced by Rep. Davis (D-CA) on May 18, 2009 and referred to the Committees on Energy and Commerce; Education and Labor; and Ways and Means.

On May 18, 2009, NLRB Chairman Wilma Liebman and Member Peter Schaumber issued a formal statement indicating they will continue to issue decisions and orders in unfair labor practice and representation cases. The statement follows the May 1, 2009 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Laurel Baye Healthcare v. NLRB, No. 08-1162, slip op. (D.C. Cir. May 1, 2009), which questioned the validity of over 300 decisions issued by the two-member National Labor Relations Board (”NLRB”) since January 2008.  Pointing to recent decisions by the First and Seventh Circuits upholding decisions of the two-member Board, a favorable legal opinion by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, and ongoing litigation in seven other Circuits, Liebman and Schaumber expressed their opinion that the decision of the D.C. Circuit “was incorrect.”

Citing the “important public duty” served by a functioning Board, Liebman and Schaumber reiterated their belief that a two-member quorum is legal and pledged to petition the entire D.C. Circuit to revisit Laurel Baye Healthcare en banc by the end of May. The statement also suggested the Board will continue to argue in support of the legality of the two-member quorum in ongoing litigation.

On April 24, 2009, President Obama announced he would nominate Democratic lawyers Craig Becker and Mark Pearce to fill two of the three NLRB vacancies. The approval of either individual would provide a three-member quorum sufficient to decide future cases under the D.C. Circuit’s standard in Laurel Baye Healthcare.

Core Provisions: This Act would require employers with at least 15 employees who work at least 30 hours a week to provide seven days of paid sick leave and pro-rated leave for part-time employees. The leave could be used for the employee or for “a child, a parent, a spouse, or any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship” requiring care for an illness, injury, or medical condition, or for obtaining medical diagnosis or preventative care. The legislation includes a private right of action for employees to sue their employer, as well as a posting requirement.

Status: H.R. 2460 was introduced by Rep. DeLauro (D-CT) on May 18, 2009 and was referred to the Committees on Education on Labor; Oversight and Government Reform; and Administration.  The Act was also introduced in the 110th Congress, but failed to make it out of committee.  Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) is expected to introduce similar legislation in the Senate later this week.

Core Provisions: This legislation directs the Secretary of Labor to issue occupational safety and health standards on safe patient handling and injury prevention to prevent musculoskeletal disorders for health care workers handling patients in health care facilities. Health care employers would be required to purchase safe lift mechanical devices and use them where feasible to eliminate manual lifting of patients by health care workers. Under the bill, health care workers can refuse assignments that would subject them to conditions in violation of the safe patient handling and injury prevention standard. The legislation includes recordkeeping and notice requirements and whistleblower protection for health care workers. It also allows for unscheduled inspections by OSHA to ensure compliance with the standard.

Status: H.R. 2381 was introduced by Rep. Conyers (D-MI) on May 13, 2009 and referred to the Committees on Education and Labor; Energy and Commerce; and Ways and Means.

Core Provisions: The bill would amend the enforcement section of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, by adding a procedure that allows covered entities the opportunity to correct an alleged violation prior to the initiation of a plaintiff’s lawsuit under the ADA or a related state statute. Title III covers places of public accommodation; commercial facilities; and private entities that offer certain examinations and courses related educational and occupational certification.

Under the proposed legislation, before filing a complaint in federal or state court alleging a violation of the ADA or a state law that conditions a violation of its provisions based on a violation of the ADA, a plaintiff would be required to provide the covered entity with written notice of the alleged violation and an opportunity to remedy the alleged violation. The written notice would need to (1) identify the facts that constitute the alleged violation, including the location of the alleged violation and the date on which the alleged violation occurred; and (2) contain a statement indicating that the plaintiff is barred from filing a complaint until the end of a 90-day remedial period. Covered entities would have 90 days to correct an alleged violation following receipt of the written notice. If a plaintiff ultimately files a complaint under the ADA or a related state statute, the complaint would be required to state that as of the date of the filing, the defendant had not corrected the alleged violation. The bill would permit a court to extend the 90-day remedial period one time by a period not to exceed 30 days if the defendant applies for an extension.

Status: On May 13, 2009, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA) introduced H.R. 2397. The bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary following its introduction.