We had another great turnout last week for my firm’s seminar on labor & employment law. Many of the topics would be familiar to avid blog readers, but there were three interesting points that I haven’t talked much about that I thought were also notable.
1. In September, the IRS announced a Voluntary Classification Settlement Program which allows employers who have misclassified employees as “independent contractors” to escape some tax consequences for re-classifying them as employees. There are downsides to this program (including opening yourself up to a wage & hour lawsuit by the employee) but it might work for some employers in some circumstances.
Interestingly, Deputy Labor Commission Dennis Murphy indicated at the seminar that Connecticut is exploring a similar program which may (or may not) get announced in early 2012.
2. The DOL has an active Rapid Reemployment Initiative that connects employers with unemployed workers. In doing so, the state also is providing financial incentives to employers who hire unemployed workers. Details can be found on the DOL’s website.
3. There are also changes to the NLRB’s election rules that got passed last week. Labor Relations Today has all the details. Among the approved changes
- giving hearing officers the discretion to deny requests by parties to submit post-hearing briefs
- eliminating the 25 day period between the issuance of a decision and direction of election by a regional director and the holding of an election
- giving the Board the discretion to refuse to review a regional director’s resolution of post-election disputes
If you signed up for the seminar and were unable to attend (or attended) and would like a copy of the materials, please send me a note at dschwartz@pullcom.com.
My thanks to all who attended and made the program a big success. Stay tuned for details on our next program in Spring 2012.