2007 seems like yesterday.

And yet, eight years after I started this blog and over 1800 posts later (and a Hall of Fame entry), I’m pretty sure 2007 WASN’T yesterday.

So for this year’s anniversary post, I thought I would capture what I think are some of the biggest storylines from the last eight years.  This isn’t definitive, but there are a few things that stand out.

1.  Social Media – Well this first one was easy, right? What’s amazing is that I didn’t even talk about Facebook and its impact on employers until fall 2008.  In that post, I talked about whether employers should use those sites in their hiring practices.  Since then, there seems to be no corner of the workplace that hasn’t been touched by social media. And yet, I’m also struck by the fact that there is a perceptible sign that we’re seeing this area mature. Less discussions about whether to have a social media policy. And less handwringing about whether social networking site posts are discoverable.  Yes, there are still unsettled areas on this  — the NLRB’s guidance continues to shift — but social media isn’t nearly as foreign as it was back in 2007.

2. The Return of the NLRB – Any discussion of the last eight years certainly must discuss the NLRB under the Obama Presidency.  There are those who complain about the political nature of the agency, but it’s always been a creature of various Presidential administrations.  But what we’ve seen over the last few years in particular is use of cases and regulations to chart new ground (or reverse older ground) in elections, workplace communications, and, last month, joint employer status. As such, we’ve seen union membership increase in several states, like Connecticut.  Make no mistake: On this day after Labor Day, unions and labor law have received a big old proverbial shot in the arm the last several years.  The election in 2016 will be a pivotal year in determining whether this changes continue.

3. The Battle Over Disabilities – True, there are plenty of other noticeable changes since 2007, but one that barely gets mentioned is the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act.  It was one of the last employment law bills signed by President Bush and became effective January 1, 2009.  The Act changed the debate on litigation involving employees with disabilities. Instead, the Act said that courts should interpret the act to provide the coverage to individuals “to the maximum extent permitted.”  For example, previously, courts and employers had to determine a person’s disability including any mitigating measures that the individual had such as prosthetics, medications or hearing aids. Now, employers and courts must ignore those measures.   As a result, ADA cases have moved from “threshold” issues (whether the person has a disability) to “liability” issues (whether the person was actually discriminated against).

While EEOC disability charges increased markedly from 2008 to 2010 – that probably had more to do with the economy than anything else. Claims have levelled off since then and have even dropped from their peak in 2012.

A lot has changed since I started this blog in 2007.  I thank you all for your continued readership.  We’ll see what the next year brings.