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Barack Obama has nominated California Democratic Rep. Hilda Solis as his labor secretary.  Solis, the daughter of two Hispanic immigrants, has been in Congress since 2000.  She has never served on the House Education and Labor Committee. She currently serves on the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Solis received her degrees from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and the University of Southern California and worked for two federal agencies in Washington, D.C. She was elected to the California State Assembly in 1992 and to the California State Senate in 1994. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve in the State Senate, and was re-elected there in 1998. She became known for her work toward environmental justice and was the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000.

Solis is well-liked by labor.  Service Employee International Union ("SEIU") President Andy Stern hailed the nomination of Solis: 

"As someone who has pounded the pavement knocking on doors for Hilda Solis in her first upset campaign in California, I can tell you firsthand that this woman is about opening doors for millions of Americans who get up and go to work each day.

From the streets of Los Angeles where she marched with the janitors who were fighting for jobs with dignity that can support a family through SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaigns, to the halls of Congress where she has been an outspoken supporter of healthcare rights for all, a livable minimum wage, and workers' right to come together for a voice on the job, Hilda Solis has never backed down from the good fight to make the American Dream available to all."

You can find Congresswoman Solis' Homepage here.  It has links to her statements and bills that she is attached to. 

The Associated Press quoted Randy Johnson, vice president for labor issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with regard to what the response of business groups would be to her nomination: "There’s a new sheriff in town, but they’ll still have to deal with the business community, and they know it.  We would hope she will continue to support programs that help educate employers about voluntary compliance with the law rather than pursue heavy-handed enforcement.”

Sources: AP, Wikipedia, SEIU Press Release

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One of the staples of practicing HR Law is reviewing and drafting employment agreements for employees and employers.  Another is reviewing or drafting separation or severance agreements.  As a result, the primary way I gage how the economy is doing is by looking at whether I'm doing more employment agreements or severance agreements.  Care to take a guess at which way the tide has been shifting over the last six months?

One of the first areas you see such a shift is in personal luxury services, such as housekeeping and nanny services.  I was just commenting earlier this week to another lawyer that my nanny employment agreement business has all but been replaced by work drafting severance agreements.  Work reviewing these documents for employees is especially somber because I know that these people (often single mothers) have no place to go when they lose their job.

Turns out I'm not the only one to have noticed this trend.  Today's Wall Street Journal has a sad article covering the same trend.  Especially poignant is the human angle to the article.  These workers often become de facto members of the family that the family, especially the children, get emotionally attached to.  One family that hired me to draft a generous severance package for the housekeeper they were being forced to lay off told me it felt like they were "firing their aunt."  

Here's a snippit from the WSJ article:

'Second Mom'

A stay-at-home mother whose husband is a litigation attorney, Mrs. Sirof says that Ms. Monterrosa was a "second mom to my kids." Ms. Monterrosa was there when she suffered a bout of depression and when she went on spa trips or outings to get Botox and Juvéderm injections, says Mrs. Sirof.

But a few months ago, the family decided they couldn't afford Ms. Monterrosa anymore and let her go.

Mrs. Sirof's daughters took the separation badly. They inquired incessantly about "Vita," as they called her. Normally a lively child, daughter Addie became sad and withdrawn. A doctor Mrs. Sirof consulted suggested renewed contact with Ms. Monterrosa.

. . . "I can't afford to buy my own children shoes," Ms. Monterrosa says, wringing her hands.

Yep, it's going to be difficult to get in the Christmas spirit this year.  I can tell.

Source For Quote: Wall Street Journal

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The Family Medical Leave Act has undergone major changes for the first time in its 15-year history. (We posted previously about the amendments & the Department of Labor's new regulations here.)  Some attorneys fear that these changes may cause a great deal of  confusion and litigation.

This week issued new rules for the amendments, which take effect on Jan. 16.  The new rules were a response to complaints by employers and employees alike.  Employers have long argued that workers are abusing FMLA, especially in the area of intermittent leave. Employees counter that they're unfairly being denied FMLA, and, are often retaliated against for taking it.

The new rules address many of employer's long-standing issues with the FMLA and also address under which circumstances military families can take FMLA leave.  However, some attorneys believe that the changes will still be problematic for employers.

Here is a link to the story in the National Law Journal.  $$

Here is a link to the new Department of Labor Regulations.

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While there may only be a few weeks left for the current administration, it certainly has not given up efforts to effect the country's HR laws.  Specifically, the Department of Labor is rushing its rule-making process to issue a rule making it more difficult for the government to regulate workers' exposure to toxic chemicals at work.  Here is an excerpt from a recent story in the New York Times:

The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.

The rule, which has strong support from business groups, says that in assessing the risk from a particular substance, federal agencies should gather and analyze “industry-by-industry evidence” of employees’ exposure to it during their working lives. The proposal would, in many cases, add a step to the lengthy process of developing standards to protect workers’ health.

Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.

If the administration manages to get the rule issued, the Obama administration will almost certainly begin efforts to repeal it as soon as they take office.  Repealing such a rule, however, can take a considerable amount of time.  In the meantime, the rule will have the force and effect of law. 

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