Tuesday, March 16, 2021
This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches. In this issue, we cover:
Biden Administration Labor Leadership Update
Congressional COVID-19 Relief Package Update
PRO Act Update
Coronavirus Guidance for Miners
Biden Administration Labor Leadership Update
On Tuesday, March 16, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is set to hold a confirmation hearing for
Julie Su’s nomination to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor.
Republicans are likely to focus on her role as head of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which paid out at least $11 billion in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
Friday, March 12, 2021
On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) to withdraw the Joint Employer and Independent Contractor Final Rules published during the previous administration.
The Joint Employer Final Rule
The Joint Employer Final Rule went into effect in January 2020 and addressed the standard for determining whether an employee may be deemed to be jointly employed by two or more employers. The Rule instructed that joint employer liability is guided by four primary, albeit non-exclusive, factors derived from the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in
Bonnette v. California Health & Welfare Agency, 704 F.2d 1465 (9th Cir. 1983). Those factors are whether, and to what extent, the proposed employer (1) hires or fires the employee; (2) supervises and controls the employee’s work schedules or conditions of employment; (3) determines the employee’s rate and method of payment; and (4)
Foodservice workers are recommended in phase 1(c) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s lists of who should be vaccinated when supply is limited, falling just behind high-risk health-care workers, the elderly and frontline essential workers. The National Restaurant Association requested priority for those who work in foodservice after first responders and the most vulnerable. Prioritizing testing and vaccine distribution will help ensure the food supply chain for our communities and ensure that agriculture industry and restaurant industry employees will be safe selling and serving healthy food, Sean Kennedy, a spokesman for the industry group said in a statement to CNBC. The Association continues to engage with the Administration on vaccine distribution planning and the State Restaurant Associations are working to ensure restaurant workers continue to be considered essential to food security and are prioritized in their state vaccine rollout plans.