Tue, 02/02/2021
The Biden administration continued its efforts to undo damage to working people wrought by its predecessor by ending the employer-friendly Payroll Audit Independent Determination and withdrawing ten anti-union memoranda implemented by the former General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board.
On Friday, the Department of Labor ended its controversial Payroll Audit Independent Determination program, which allowed employers to self-report overtime and minimum wage violations to avoid liquidated damages, civil penalties, and litigation costs. Although few employers actually took advantage of the PAID program due to promises by state attorney generals that they would continue to enforce state laws against participants, the program was widely viewed as employer-friendly because participants were only required to reimburse employees for back wages, avoiding the double liability of liquidated damages and the potential for civil penalties. In the news release announcing the end of the program, the Department of Labor stated that the program enabled employers to avoid accountability to their workers. For more information on enforcing your rights under wage and hour laws, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/unpaid-regular-pay-overtime.
On Monday, National Labor Relations Board acting general counsel Peter Ohr withdrew ten guidance memoranda issued by his predecessor, former General Counsel Peter Robb. Ohr stated that the withdrawn memoranda were either unnecessary or in conflict with the NLRB’s mandate to “encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining” and to protect workers’ rights to form and join unions. The memoranda withdrawn by acting GC Ohr include guidance that made it easier for workers to win payouts when accusing their unions of mishandling disputes with employers, broadening the circumstances under which unions must disclose their political spending to workers, and allowing employers to violate federal labor law when they entered “neutrality agreements” with unions. A full list of the withdrawn memoranda is available here. For more information on your rights to form and join labor unions, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/labor-unions.
