4 new employment-law bills now pending in Congress

Below are summaries of four pieces of legislation of which employers should take note:

• Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act. Senator Tom Harkin (IA-D) introduced this bill last week. It would overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. and lower the burden of proof for employees to prove age discrimination claims.

 

• National Right to Work Act. Senator Jim DeMint (SC-R) has introduced this bill to “preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities.”

 

• Working Families Flexibility Act. Late last month, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-D) and Senator Robert Casey (PA-D) introduced this bill in both the House and Senate. In effect, it would create a statutory right for employees to request flexible work terms and conditions. Employers who receive such requests must then engage in an interactive dialogue with the employee.

 

• Keep Employees’ Emails and Phones Secure Act. This bill from Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL) would “prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from requiring that employers provide to the Board or to a labor organization the telephone number or email address of any employee.”

Gun to my head, none of these bills pass. But, all are worth watching. And speaking of watching, in the spirit of this post, below is the “I’m Just a BIll” Schoolhouse Rock video. You can also find the Simpsons parody here.

Huge h/t to the Washington DC Employment Law Update for some of these goodies (not the video, just the bills).