Each election cycle, I hope that employment law issues will move front and center to the Presidential campaign.
And each cycle, I’m slightly disappointed that such issues only get short shrift. Sigh.
But as I’ve done before, it would be nice to fantasize about employment law questions that could be posed to the candidates at the upcoming Presidential debates.
So, just in case Lester Holt or the other moderators are brainstorming ideas on the internet, here are three questions I’d like to see asked of Donald J. Trump.
(I’ll have a followup post for Hillary Clinton.)
- The U.S. Department of Labor has recent proposed raising the salary threshold requirements for employees to receive overtime. As a result, millions more workers may start to get overtime in December of this year. But this week, various states and business groups have filed suit to block its implementation. You have previously said that you support a rollback of these new rules. Why? What specific changes would you propose to the overtime rules if you were going to roll back the current proposal. Be specific.
- You recently said you would advise your daughter Ivanka to “find another career or find another company” if she faced the same harassment as alleged in the sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox chief Roger Ailes. Can you explain why you think your daughter should leave a company if faced with harassment? Doesn’t the company bear some responsibility to its employees to stop the harassment and ensure a safe working environment for its employees?
Followup question: Given the allegations against Roger Ailes and Fox’s payment of $20M to resolve allegations by one of its former employees of sexual harassment, how do you justify consulting with him and what message (if any) do you think it sends to your female workers on your staff? - States like Connecticut have passed a version of Paid Sick Leave. Do you support such a law? As a followup, you recently said you would support a six-week paid maternity leave program. Why are fathers excluded from your proposal? Do you think fathers should have any paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child?