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Category: Congress

House Panel Advances Bills To Amend FLSA To Encourage Job-Related Training, Child Care Services

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has advanced two bills to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These bills would incentivize employers to offer voluntary job-related training and to provide overtime-eligible employees with child and dependent care benefits. H.R. 2262 would exclude time spent in after-hours training programs from hours worked, even if the training programs are job-related....
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Averts Government Shutdown by Enacting Year-Long Continuing Resolution

Nearly six months into the government’s 2025 fiscal year, which began October 1, 2024, Congress has effectively given up on passing an annual appropriations bill and has instead passed a continuing resolution (H.R. 1968) that funds most parts of the government at the same level as last year. Enactment of the bill clears the way for negotiations to begin over...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Congress Again Averts Government Shutdown by Approving 3-Month Funding Extension

With the government scheduled to run out of funding on December 20, Congress approved a short-term stopgap measure to keep the doors open through March 28, 2025. This year, Congress again failed to pass an annual appropriations bill to fund the federal government before the new fiscal began October 1. Instead, lawmakers enacted a three-month Continuing Resolution that kept government...
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Averts Government Shutdown by Approving 3-Month Funding Extension

Congress has approved a short-term stop-gap measure to keep the federal government running until December 20, 2024. Otherwise, its funding would have dried up September 30. The Continuing Resolution (H.R. 9747) effectively will keep funding most government agencies—including the Department of Labor (DOL), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—for three months. With the...
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Category: Appropriations

Best Case Scenario for EEOC, OFCCP in FY 2025 May Be Flat Funding

As Congress moves forward with setting federal government funding levels for fiscal year 2025, it seems increasingly likely that workforce enforcement agencies will be funded at current FY 2024 levels. These agencies include the Labor Department’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). FY 2025...
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Category: Biden Administration

Biden Nominates Two for NLRB Seats, Ensuring Pro-Union Tilt Until 2026 If Confirmed by Senate

President Joe Biden has submitted two nominations for seats on the five-member National Labor Relations Board, one a Democrat and the other a Republican. The nominees are current Chair Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, to serve a third five-year term; and Republican Joshua L. Ditelberg, an employment law partner at Seyfarth Shaw, to fill a current Board vacancy. If the U.S. Senate...
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Category: Arbitration and Dispute Resolution

Senate Committee Approves Bill Banning Pre-Dispute Arbitration of Age Discrimination Claims

A bill that would invalidate mandatory arbitration of age discrimination claims cleared a key Senate committee May 9, 2024, paving the way for possible enactment later this year. On a bipartisan 15 to 6 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved and sent to the full Senate the Protecting Older Americans Act of 2023 (S. 1979). The bill builds on legislation enacted...
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Flat Funds OFCCP, NLRB and Other Workplace Regulators for Rest of FY 2024

Congress and the White House have finally reached a spending deal, six months after the government’s 2024 fiscal year began, with the approval of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (H.R. 2882). This legislation funds a large portion of the government—including the Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)—through September 30, 2024. It follows an earlier...
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Category: Appropriations

Biden FY 2025 Budget Proposal Seeks More Money for Workplace Enforcement Agencies

President Biden has submitted the Administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2025 to Congress. It calls for significant funding increases for the EEOC and other workplace regulatory agencies for FY 2025, which covers the period October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. It also proposes major policy changes, such as a paid family leave program and big increases in penalties...
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Category: Appropriations

Congress Flat Funds EEOC for Rest of FY 2024; No Deal Yet on DOL, NLRB Spending

Congress has allocated $455 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as part of a deal to fund a portion of the federal government through September 30, 2024. President Biden signed the measure March 9. The EEOC’s $455 million appropriation is the same amount it received in FY 2023, despite a request for a budget increase by the Biden...

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