With the election of Donald Trump and the Republican Party retaining control of the House and Senate, employers can expect some changes as the new administration takes control. Here are three issues that will likely be affected.
EEOC Requirements
As we wrote in our July 2016 article, Watch out: Burdens for businesses may skyrocket if EEOC rule moves forward, employers with more than 100 employees would have been required to provide expanded reporting to the EEOC. This reform will likely fall under the category of reducing or eliminating business barriers in a Trump administration. It would not be surprising if this directive is eliminated, or at the very least, profoundly changed.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act)
Throughout the Obama administration, Congress opted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, only to have it vetoed by the president. With a new commander in chief, one might expect repealing it to be at the top of the to-do list.
However, given that a repeal would take health insurance away from more than 20 million Americans, this is unlikely. It would seem that a parallel “repeal and replace” strategy might be a more prudent, and likely, direction. One potential option for the replace piece might be House Speaker Paul Ryan’s A Better Way—Our Vision for a Confident America.
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
In July 2016, we alluded to a Department of Labor ruling scheduled to be implemented on December 1. The post detailed a dramatic increase in the wage base for employees deemed exempt from the FLSA.
On November 22, 2016 a federal judge in Texas issued a preliminary injunction, in effect blocking the implementation of the new FLSA rules. You can find out what this means for your business and how you should respond in the meantime here.
This injunction may ultimately be lifted, but probably not until the new administration takes office. In that case, there’s a good chance that regardless of the outcome of the ligation any future FLSA changes will be different than those currently proposed.
In Conclusion
Will these prognostications prove accurate? Final appointments and Senate approval may provide a clearer picture. Stay tuned to this space for updates as events unfold.
