Problematic Legislation on the Horizon for HR Professionals

1
Problematic Legislation on the Horizon for HR
Professionals

• Presented By
• Craig Kwasniewski
• Ohio SHRM Director, Governmental Affairs

2
Objectives

• Federal Issues
• State Issues

3
Federal Issues

• Health Care Reform
• 1099 Reporting Requirement
• Paycheck Fairness Act
• Equal Employment for All Act

4
Health Care Reform

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  (PPACA).
• While PPACA is now law, many implementation
  details remain unanswered.
• Effective dates of many provisions are several
  years down the road, but it is not too early to
  start preparing.

5
Health Care Reform Continued

• Efforts to repeal are unlikely technical
  corrections legislation is more likely.

6
1099 Reporting Requirement

• Require an employer to file a 1099 tax form
  reporting any purchase it makes of any goods or
  services above 600 from any individual or
  business.
• Currently, employers must only file a 1099 on the
  purchase of services and only when the entity is
  an unincorporated business.

7
1099 Reporting Requirement Continued

• Amendments are pending in the Senate to either
  repeal the provision or exempt businesses with
  less than 25 people and apply the reporting
  requirement only to purchases above 5,000.
• 1099 requirement is projected to raise 17.1
  billion dollars over ten years and was included
  in the health care bill to offset its costs.

8
1099 Reporting Requirement Continued

• Efforts to repeal this provision, which becomes
  effective in 2012, failed in the Senate on
  September 16, 2010.

9
Paycheck Fairness Act

• Reintroduced in the Senate on September 13, 2010.
• Would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
  to increase remedies for violations of the Equal
  Pay Act (EPA) and make it more difficult to
  defend against such claims.

10
Paycheck Fairness Act Continued

• Would expand damages under the EPA to include
  potentially unlimited compensatory and punitive
  awards.
• Prevent employers from relying on the factors
  other than sex affirmative defense in wage
  discrimination cases.
• Incorporate anti-retaliation provisions into the
  FLSA that would protect complainants.

11
Paycheck Fairness Act Continued

• Eliminate the requirement that employees work in
  the same establishment for wage comparison
  purposes.
• Reinstate the Equal Opportunity Survey.
• SHRM plans to oppose

12
Equal Employment for All Act

• H.R.3149
• Would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
  to prohibit the use of credit checks in the
  employment process in most instances.
• Define a credit report or consumer report as any
  information that reflects an individuals credit
  worthiness, credit standing or credit capacity
  for employment purposes.

13
Equal Employment for All Act Continued

• Certain credit checks permitted
• Employers would still be required by the FCRA to
  obtain the permission of the employee to conduct
  a credit report for the permitted exceptions.

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State Issues

• HB 523 Employee Misclassification
• SB 291 Background Checks
• HB 571 Conceal/Carry

15
HB 523

• Employee Misclassification
• Changes definition of employee
• Independent Contractor statuses
• Ohio Chamber of Commerce opposes

16
HB 523 Continued

• Seven exemptions
• i.e. The individual has been and continues to be
  free from control and direction for performance
  of their service.
• i.e. The work performed by the individual is
  outside of the usual course of business of the
  employer.

17
SB 291

• People with arrest records having trouble with
  job searches.
• Mandates when an employer can use a background
  check.
• Offers offenders the opportunity to have their
  records sealed.
• Ohio Chamber opposes

18
HB 571

• Old HB 12
• Modification to conceal/carry
• Would allow employees to be able to keep a
  firearm in their locked car on company premises.
• Bill would mandate that its allowed and override
  company policy.

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Sources

• SHRM Government Relations SHRM.org
• SHRM Advocacy Team SHRM.org
• Ohio Chamber of Commerce OhioChamber.com
• Littler Governmental Affairs Team
• Ohio SHRM OhioSHRM.org

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Contact Information

• Craig Kwasniewski
• 440/329-7223 (office)
• ckwasniewski_at_windstream.net