Workplace FYI - Inside Washington & Beyond – What Employers Need to Know

Because of Monday’s court decision favoring the Chamber of Commerce in its challenge to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’s new election rules, the NLRB has “temporarily suspended” the rules and withdrawn its instructions on the implementation of these representation case process changes that were effective on April 30. (link).   See U.S. Chamber of Commerce et al. v. National Labor Relations Board, No. 11-cv-2282 (D.D.C. May 14, 2012).

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Last December, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) postponed the effective date for the regulations on its new election process to April 30, 2012. After surviving legal and Congressional challenges, the regulations will go into effect today. In fact, just last week NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon issued a guidance memorandum outlining how regional offices will implement these new regulations.

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In part because of reinvigorated focus from Congress and the executive branch, in part because of employers reaching out to hire veterans, employ­ment of veterans has improved over the past year. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), from February 2011 to February 2012, the unemployment rate for veterans 18 and older decreased from 9.2% to 7.0%, lower now than the unemployment rate for nonveterans.

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Today, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon released his second report describing 14 social media cases, all fact-specific, that his office has reviewed. Half cover questions about employer social media policies. Five of those policies were found to be unlawfully broad, one was lawful, and one was found to be lawful after it was revised.

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Today, the President acted quickly to sign into law the VOW_ to_ Hire_ Heroes_ Act_of_ 2011.pdf. In one of the few displays of both bipartisan and bicameral actions in recent times, Congress passed the legislation intended to assist unemployed veterans find employment. In a symbolic vote on November 10, the day before Veterans Day, the Senate unanimously passed its bill (95-0), which was based upon the House-passed Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act.  The House followed quickly to pass that bill on November 16.

The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in its the October 2011 report, showed that the overall jobless rate for veterans, at 7.7%, was lower than the national rate of 9%, but for those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rate was much higher--12.1%.  Some 2/3 of these veterans are under age 35. Breaking the figures down further, Gulf War era II veterans, i.e., those who served since September 2001, who were current or past members of the National Guard or Reserve, suffered a worse unemployment rate in July, of 14%. This was still better than young, male veterans (ages 18-24), who had an unemployment rate of 21.9% in 2010.

The law provides a variety of methods to turn this situation around. Among its key provisions are its increases in education and training, job counseling, transition and placement assistance, and additional help for disabled veterans.  It also amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) to clarify what constitutes a benefit and a hostile work environment.  One of the biggest boosts toward the goal of getting veterans employed is likely the tax credits to be given to employers hiring veterans. The law would provide a tax credit of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans who have been looking for a job for more than six months, a $2,400 credit for veterans who are unemployed for more than 4 weeks but less than 6 months and a tax credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been looking for a job for more than six months.