Meet the New Boss. Earlier this week, Eugene Scalia officially began his tenure as Secretary of Labor. He was sworn in at the White House by President Trump, following last week's successful confirmation vote (53-44) in the Senate. Secretary Scalia takes the helm with an ambitious regulatory agenda laid out for the next couple of years. Acting Secretary Patrick Pizzella, who had been pushing that agenda forward while Scalia awaited confirmation, returns to his role of Deputy Secretary.
SEC Proposes Disclosure Requirements for "Human Capital." On August 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued proposed amendments to Regulation S-K Items 101, 103, and 105, discussing various proposals to expand the type of information public companies must disclose with regard to their workforces. The preamble discussion noted the growing momentum to provide greater information in this area, ranging from workforce demographics, to workforce culture and improvement, to workforce health and safety, to human rights commitments and their implementation. The trend to disclose workforce-related information has gained much traction in Europe through a number of international standard-setting bodies. Although the SEC has proposed what appears to be a relatively moderate approach, it is worth considering submitting a comment explaining the hazards of producing information that could be misused out of context. Such comments likely will be necessary to offset anticipated comments from groups pressuring for much broader disclosure requirements than those proposed by the SEC . . . proposals that would make the EEO-1 Component 2 requirements look simple by comparison. The comment period closes October 22. See Seyfarth's Employment Law Lookout blog for more information.
EEOC Pay Data Collection Tool To Remain Open. Speaking of the EEO-1, last week the EEOC announced that its electronic collection portal would remain open after the September 30, 2019 deadline for employers to submit the required information. The EEOC stated that it "will continue to accept data as long as the Court's order is in effect." For more information, check out Seyfarth's Employment Law Lookout blog.
Cities Continue to Get In on the Employment Law Action. Columbia, South Carolina has just joined Team "Ban-the-Box." The new provision prohibits employers – including private employers – from inquiring about an applicant's criminal history until receipt of a conditional offer of employment and requiring the addition of language to job postings/applications. Seyfarth's Client Alert provides the details.
WHD Looking at FMLA. The Wage & Hour Division has two somewhat under-the-radar regulatory projects related to the FMLA. The first is its proposal to revise the optional FMLA forms "to increase compliance with the FMLA, improve customer service, and reduce the burden on the public by making the forms easier to understand and use." Comments on the forms are due tomorrow, October 4, 2019. The second is a Request for Information, currently under review at the White House. The pre-rule RFI will "solicit comments on ways to improve its regulations under the FMLA to: (a) better protect and suit the needs of workers; and (b) reduce administrative and compliance burdens on employers." The RFI-before-NPRM strategy was employed in the 2008 revisions to the FMLA regulations, so keep a close eye on these developments.
Related Events
Washington, D.C.: October 17 | The Bottom Line: Employment and Immigration Legislative and Regulatory Developments
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