Trump’s Employment Agenda Remains Murky

The Trump administration has been in office for about six months, and the direction of its employment agenda remains uncertain. President Trump’s actions so far seem to indicate that, like any Republican president, he will promote employment policies that favor the business community. On the other hand, much of the campaign-trail rhetoric that got him elected invoked promises to support workers, especially blue-collar workers.

It was anticipated that the Trump administration would take steps to block President Obama’s Executive Order and the DOL’s subsequent rulemaking amending the overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, but the status of the rule and the administration’s position on the issue remain uncertain. The DOL has pushed back the effective date of the Occupational Exposure to Beryllium rule twice, and has asked for two extra months to consider the “Persuader Rule” under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. This would require employers to report any advice designed to persuade employees about engaging in union campaigns or collective bargaining.

There are many unsettled employment issues that the current administration will have to address – chief among them, in addition to the overtime regulations, the efforts by the Obama administration and the plaintiffs’ bar to expand the definition of joint employment in a variety of contexts; the continuing attack of the NLRB on the enforceability of class action waivers in arbitration provision; and efforts to expand LGBT rights in the workplace in the absence of congressional action.