Jane Oates Confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Jay Sumner

As anticipated, the Senate on Friday confirmed the nomination of Jane Oates as assistant secretary for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The ETA is the DOL’s sub-agency tasked with administering federal government job training and worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits. The Senate approved the nomination by voice vote, as is typical for most nominees once he or she has been approved by the applicable Senate committee. Earlier this month, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions sanctioned Oates’s nomination to head the ETA. Oates currently is the executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and senior policy advisor to Governor Jon S. Corzine.

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Legislative and Regulatory News for the Week of May 10

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Governmental Affairs Team

The following is a summary of the legislative and regulatory news for the week of May 10, 2009:

Agency Happenings

Both the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have issued their regulatory agendas for the coming months.

Health Care/Employee Benefits

A number of federal agencies are requesting information on the mental health parity provisions made by the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) in advance of a future rulemaking on group health plans.  Meanwhile, legislation providing employers with various incentives for promoting employee health may receive serious consideration now that Congress is contemplating major healthcare reform.

Immigration

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a fact sheet discussing its revised Worksite Enforcement Strategy, which will increase efforts to target employers in violation of immigration law.

Work/Family Balance

The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has issued an opinion letter clarifying that an employer’s internal notification policy regarding employee attendance can be enforced against an employee attempting to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) so long as compliance with the notice policy is practicable given the employee’s particular circumstances.
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Obama Nominates Lorelei Boylan to Lead the DOL's Wage and Hour Division

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Jay Sumner

President Obama has chosen Lorelei Boylan as his nominee for Administrator of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is a sub-agency within the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment Standards Administration (ESA) responsible for enforcing federal labor laws concerning, among other topics, minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, youth employment and special employment, family and medical leave, migrant workers, lie detector tests, worker protections in certain temporary worker programs, and the prevailing wages for government service and construction contracts.

Boylan currently serves as the Director of Strategic Enforcement at the New York State Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division. According to a White House press release, Boylan supervises the Apparel Industry/Fair Wages Task Force, a state-wide specialized unit charged with investigating low-wage industries for wage and hour violations. Prior to heading the Task Force, Boylan spearheaded the Bureau of Immigrant Workers’ Rights, a newly formed division of New York’s DOL, where she developed policies to assist those with limited English proficiency. Prior to working for New York’s DOL, Boylan practiced law as an Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General’s Office. She was hired under the Honor’s Program to represent the State in defensive and affirmative litigation. In this capacity, Boylan investigated businesses for violations of state and federal labor laws and represented the Department of Health in New York State Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals. Before becoming a lawyer, Boylan worked for several years for a global monitoring company, counseling firms on compliance with state and federal labor laws, OSHA, immigration and tax laws.

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Legislative and Regulatory News for the Week of April 5, 2009

Posted on April 11, 2009 by Governmental Affairs Team

The following is a summary of the legislative and regulatory news for the week of April 5, 2009:

Agency Changes

President Obama has named Jane Oates as his nominee for assistant secretary of the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

Jordan Barab has been appointed as both deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Employee Benefits

The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance on the COBRA premium subsidy provided for in the stimulus package.  The Department of Labor (DOL) has likewise issued expanded guidance on the COBRA subsidy notice requirements.

Immigration

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will continue to accept applications for initial H-1B status more than a week after the filing season opened.

Workplace Safety

OSHA has released a guidance document on assigned protection factors for respirators.  The agency has also released a revised Field Operations Manual.
 
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Obama to Nominate Jane Oates to Lead the Employment and Training Administration

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Jay Sumner

President Obama has chosen Jane Oates as his nominee for assistant secretary of the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA).  The ETA is the DOL’s sub-agency tasked with administering federal government job training and worker dislocation programs, federal grants to states for public employment service programs, and unemployment insurance benefits. The ETA provides these services primarily through state and local workforce development systems.

Currently, Oates is the executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and senior policy advisor to Governor Jon S. Corzine. Oates also serves on the State Employment and Training Commission (SETC), the State Commission on Adult Literacy and Education, New Jersey High School Redesign Task Force, the Public Sector Work Group and chairs the State Educators Health Benefits Commission and the Governor’s Schools Board of Overseers. Before taking her current position in 2006, Oates served as the senior policy advisor on higher education, national service, adult literacy, education research and workforce issues to Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

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Legislative and Regulatory News for the Week of March 22, 2009

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Governmental Affairs Team

The following is a summary of the legislative and regulatory news for the week of March 22, 2009:

Agency Changes

President Obama made the following nominations this week:

  • Phyllis C. Borzi to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
  • Kathleen Martinez as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP).
  • Joseph Szabo to head the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

EFCA

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced that he will vote against cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA).

Employee Benefits

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said during a webcast sponsored by the DOL that individuals who accept an employer’s offer to retire or resign to avoid a layoff would be eligible to take advantage of the new COBRA subsidy.

The Incentive to Serve Tax Act (H.R. 1644) was introduced. This bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide a tax credit for qualified donations of employee services.

Additionally, the Veterans’ Employment Transition Support Act of 2009 (VETS Act of 2009) (H.R. 1647) was introduced. This legislation would amend the IRC to provide employers with a tax credit for hiring veterans.

Employee Wage and Hour Law

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has decided to withdraw its revised pilot and flight attendant rest rules for long-range flights.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has vowed to hire 250 wage and hour investigators in the wake of a damning GAO report on faulty and/or inadequate wage and hour complaint investigations.

Immigration

The DOL proposes to suspend for nine months the H-2A regulations published on December 18, 2008, which became effective on January 17, 2009.  Meanwhile, the DOL has withdrawn its interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) concerning relocation expenses incurred by H-2A and H-2B workers.  Also this week, the USCIS announced that employers receiving funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and other federal funding must meet additional requirements before hiring foreign nationals to work in the H-1B specialty occupation category.

Labor/Management Relations

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has made its pilot ADR program permanent.

Work/Family Balance

The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2009 (H.R. 1723) was introduced. This bill would create an employee- and employer-funded insurance program allowing employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave.
 
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