HR, Labor & Employment

The Chamber supports job retention and job growth.  In the midst of a recession, neither Congress nor the incoming administration should enact new laws or promulgate new regulations which increase the cost of employment.  Increasing the cost of employment in a recession will cause further job loss, including but not limited to driving jobs out of the country.  Our nation's human resource, labor and employment laws should help employers to become more competitive internationally, instead of raising barriers to domestic job creation.  Very real quality of life, "main street" issues for struggling families hang in the balance as Congress and the administration decide whether to undertake actions which would effectively regulate and legislate their jobs out of existence.  Our members have been crystal clear on this subject.  Jobs will be lost if Congress or the administration increase the cost of employment during this recession.

Equal Pay Act

The Equal Pay Act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate on the basis of sex, in the payment of wages for equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort and responsibility and which are performed under similar working conditions.  In essence, the Equal Pay Act requires employers to pay comparable wages to male and female employees who are employed in the same position.  The Act makes specific exceptions for wage differentials which are based upon:  (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any factor other than sex.

Despite the protections provided in the Equal Pay Act, Congress has proposed the Paycheck Fairness Act. 

The Paycheck Fairness Act would, among other things, make it easier to file large class action lawsuits, expand remedies under the Equal Pay Act to include unlimited punitive and compensatory damages and limit an employer's ability to justify legitimate pay differences, in effect, putting courts in the position of second-guessing employer pay decisions. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act already provides adequate remedies for sex discrimination in employment, including any claim that equal pay is being denied based on sex. But proponents support the bill based on the "pay gap"---which assumes that any gap in pay must be due to unlawful discrimination. This assumption is being used to justify radical rewrites of pay equity laws and put expansive regulation in place. The only parties that benefit from this are the trial lawyers.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce opposes any legislation that will place unnecessary burdens and expenses on employers during this time of recession.  Employees are already fully protected by the Equal Pay Act and Title VII.  Expanding the Equal Pay Act at this time will only increase unnecessary litigation, which will result in the loss of more jobs. 

Family and Medical Leave Act and Paid Leave

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was intended to provide leave for a "serious medical condition" of an employee or immediate family member, birth of a child and bonding.  In 2008 the Department of Labor implemented new regulations which are effective January 16, 2009.  The long-term effects of these new regulations are yet to be determined.  Despite the burdens already placed on employers, each year new legislation is proposed that would expand the FMLA’s leave entitlements.

Last session Congress introduced the Family and Medical Leave Enhancement Act, which is still pending before Congress.  The Act would amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to allow employees to take, as additional leave, parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children's and grandchildren's educational and extracurricular activities and to clarify that leave may be taken for routine family medical needs and to assist elderly relatives, and for other purposes.  Congress should not force employers to provide employees with leave to attend extracurricular activities.  This legislation goes too far.  The precedent that this type of legislation would set would have damaging long term affects on the autonomy of employers to run their businesses.  

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce supports:

Legislation and/or regulatory reform that will revise and clarify the FMLA to ease the burdens created by the implementing regulations. We oppose expansion of the FMLA to provide leave for purposes not currently covered, and oppose expanded application of the FMLA to smaller employers.

Employee Free Choice Act - Union Certification

Under current law, if a group of employees wish to have a union represent them, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administers an election in the workplace, during which employees vote via secret ballot. The election process occurs without the presence of any supervisors or managerial representatives of the employer, and no campaigning of any kind is allowed in the voting area. The question of union representation is then determined by majority rule, based on the number of votes cast.

In recent years, there have been proposals to make changes to the NLRB’s practice of holding a secret ballot election. These proposed changes, termed the “Employee Free Choice Act,” would first, allow employees to form a union by collecting signed union authorization cards or petitions. Second, the Employee Free Choice Act would require employers and newly certified unions to enter binding arbitration if they cannot reach an agreement on an initial contract after 90 days of negotiations.  Neither the employer nor employee could appeal the arbitrator’s ruling, and the contract would last for two years.  Third, the Employee Free Choice Act would dramatically increase the penalties for unfair labor practices committed by employers, but not unions, during an organization drive.

Proponents of the Bill contend that the Act would protect workers' freedom to freely choose to join a union. However, workers' best defense against harassment and intimidation by either a union or an employer is a secret-ballot election in which neither knows how any individual worker voted.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce opposes:

Legislation that would eliminate the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) secret ballot election process. The Employee Free Choice Act would strip workers and employers of their fundamental rights and leave them more vulnerable to pressure than before.  Congress should protect the privacy of American workers and guarantee their right to vote in an election before joining a union.  Congress should also guarantee every worker the opportunity to hear arguments from both sides and time to reflect before voting.  The NLRB secret ballot process is time tested and is the only way to ensure that most fundamental American right. 

Employment Verification: E-Verify  

The past 110^th Congress brought with it a hope of comprehensive reform of our nation’s immigration laws, as there was strong bi-partisan support of Congressional leaders.  Although efforts to enact immigration reform collapsed in the summer of 2007, Congress did consider legislation aimed at improving the voluntary electronic employment verification system known as E-Verify.

Currently, employers may voluntarily elect to participate in the E-Verify system. Participants in E-Verify confirm employment authorization of new hires through Social Security and Homeland Defense databases. Currently only 85,000 employers (out of 7,000,000 U.S. employers, or 1.2 percent) participate. The program supporting E-Verify was set to expire in November 2008, but has been temporarily extended until May 21, 2009.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber supports:

Providing employers a reliable method to confirm worker eligibility. A fully-electronic system, using biometric measures to prevent identity theft, such as the proposed New Employee Verification Act, would provide employers with the tools they need to keep unauthorized workers off their payrolls.

Highly-Skilled Worker Shortages

Congressional proposals have been introduced, but not enacted, to address the shortage of highly-skilled labor. Some of the proposals included permanent employment-based visa reform, expanding the H-1B visa exemption for foreign nationals who have earned an advanced degree from a U.S. college or university; exempting from the employment-based visa cap foreign nationals holding an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; as well as efforts to place additional requirements on U.S. employers using the employment-based visa categories.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber supports:

Expansion of H-1B visas for foreign nationals, especially those who have earned advanced degrees in the U.S. Increased intellectual human capital should be viewed as a valuable asset, not a liability.  

National Right-to-Work

Under current law, an employee must join a union if a union is certified at a place of employment (closed shop) unless the state in which the employee works has enacted a "right to work" law.  Congress has pre-empted the field of union/labor relations to provide uniformity throughout the states, yet left "right to work" up to each state.

The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce supports:  

The Northern Kentucky Chamber encourages Congress to enact a national right-to-work law so that no employee should be required to join a union against his or her will, regardless of the state in which they work.