This issue of Independent Joe is our 50th issue. DDIFO first published “Indy Joe” back in the spring of 2009 as a 16-page quarterly publication. The cover of the inaugural issue teased a feature on the benefits of mediation versus litigation, along with a photo insert of Brad Pitt carrying a medium cup of Dunkin’…
Read More »It seems that the debate over increases to minimum wages around the country has been in the news now for longer than one can imagine, and that may very well be the case! The question of the minimum wage was first raised most recently by President Obama in his 2013 state of the union address…
Read More »The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) targeted private business salary information last week when it released a new proposed regulation mandating that more data be reported by employers with over 100 employees. The regulation, which is now available for public review and comment until April 1 of this year, expands the data required on the…
Read More »Although I never thought I’d write that headline, President Obama did sign the Protecting Affordable Coverage for Employees Act (PACE), a bi-partisan bill from Congress amending his health care mandate. PACE restores a 50 employee cap on the small group market (Small Business Health Options Program or SHOP) for health insurance. States are now empowered…
Read More »It may be just the first federal volley on the subject, but it follows the same pattern as the minimum wage push did a few years ago. President Obama, in a Labor Day speech to Boston unions, announced an executive order that will require paid sick leave for employees of any private contractors seeking to…
Read More »As if the egregious doubling of the “white collar exemption” weren’t enough, Obama’s Department of Labor has proposed another new regulation that is very friendly to organized labor at the expense of business. Although QSRs will likely not be directly impacted, a new regulation proposed by the Department of Labor and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory…
Read More »The Obama Administration continued tightening the screws on private employer autonomy this week with a ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). By a 3-2 ruling in a case brought by a gay air traffic controller in Miami who alleged he was denied a promotion because of his sexual orientation, the EEOC determined that…
Read More »The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued its proposed regulation regarding the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption and the net effect of the change doubles the amount of money used as the threshold. Since 2004, when the overtime exemption was last revised, the salary requirement was set at $23,660 or $455/week, however under the…
Read More »As had been expected, earlier this week, President Obama vetoed a bill sent him by Congress invoking the Congressional Review Act, whereby Congress expressed its disapproval of the “ambush election rules” from the National Labor Relations Board and through which it sought to rescind them. The bill passed both branches with less than the 2/3…
Read More »As if the administration’s egregious actions regarding minimum wages, union elections, paid sick leave and joint employer rules weren’t enough mischief, the President, as he vetoed the “ambush election” fix (above), reiterated his intention to host a workers summit later this year, ostensibly to rally organized labor and other activists for more pro-union initiatives and…
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