| | | | |  | | By Nick Niedzwiadek | PONDERING PREGNANCY PROTECTIONS: Enhanced protections for pregnant workers passed as part of last year’s omnibus spending deal goes into effect in less than 45 days. The legislation, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, requires businesses with 15 or more employees to provide “reasonable accommodations,” such as additional bathroom breaks or modified work duties, for workers who are limited by “pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions.” The law expands upon previous protections enshrined in the decadesold Americans With Disabilities Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is tasked with enforcing the law, has yet to unveil proposed regulations governing how it will apply the PWFA. That almost certainly means it won’t happen by the law’s June 27 start date, though Congress gave the EEOC until late December to finalize those rules. Draft regulations have begun circulating for commissioner review within the past month, according to an EEOC source with knowledge of the situation. But the EEOC cannot move forward with rulemaking unless a majority of commissioners — currently split 2-2 between Democratic and Republican appointees with one vacancy — vote to do so, and partisan divisions has bogged down operations for the entirety of the Biden administration. In the meantime the EEOC has put out an FAQ outlining the law’s parameters, and an agency spokesperson said it is planning to host a webinar for employers. That guidance is useful — if less so than true regulations. But the lack of rules likely won’t have a major effect on the EEOC’s enforcement abilities given its previous experience dealing with issues related to pregnancy discrimination, according to Christine Bestor Townsend of the law firm Ogletree Deakins. “The EEOC has signaled it is very interested in these issues, and so I think they're going to be active in this space,” she told POLITICO. “It’s probably a bigger shift for employers than it will be for the EEOC.” GOOD MORNING. It’s Monday, May 15. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on labor and employment-related immigration. Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to NNiedzwiadek@politico.com and OOlander@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @nickniedz and @oliviaolanderr.
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| | STICKING WITH SU: The White House has been ramping up its pressure on Senate Democrats to confirm Labor nominee Julie Su and deploying some big guns to get her nomination over the line, our Jennifer Haberkorn reports. Over the past two weeks, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients has placed calls to key senators who are considering her nomination, according to a White House official who asked not to be named to speak freely about the outreach. In recent days, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm have also joined the effort, calling moderate Democrats who have been noncommittal about supporting Su, according to three people familiar with the calls. Former Secretary Marty Walsh is also trying to help out, telling Democratic senators that she’s more than qualified for the top spot. “I took the job as the mayor of Boston. Julie is far better prepared for this job than I was.” More hill news: “Feds Could Be Fired at Any Time for Any Reason, Under a Bill That Was Just Reintroduced,” from Government Executive.
| | | MUSIC TO BIDEN’S EARS: Workers at an electric bus manufacturer in Georgia voted Friday to join the United Steelworkers, a major organizing victory for labor unions in the South and in an industry key to Democrats’ clean-energy goals. The company, Blue Bird, opposed the organizing effort but workers bucked management and voted 697 to 435, according to the tally collected by the National Labor Relations Board. “The Blue Bird union shop, 1,400 workers strong, will be one of the biggest in the South, and union leaders said it could be a beachhead as they eyed new electric vehicle suppliers moving in — and potentially the biggest, most difficult targets: foreign electric vehicle makers like Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which have located in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina in part to avoid unions,” The New York Times reports. More union news: “IATSE Creates Commission to Study Artificial Intelligence,” from The Hollywood Reporter.
| | | FROM DOL TO THE FED: President Joe Biden said Friday he will promote Federal Reserve board member Philip Jefferson to the central bank’s No. 2 position and nominate World Bank official Adriana Kugler to an open seat, our Victoria Guida reports. Jefferson’s elevation isn’t expected to significantly shift the Fed’s course, though he would play an important role in advising the central bank chief as the institution’s highest-ranking Ph.D. economist. The nomination of Kugler, a Colombian-American economist, comes after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) urged Biden to have a Latino candidate fill the vacancy left by Lael Brainard, now the president’s top economic policy adviser. Shift sidebar: Kugler previously served as the Labor Department’s chief economist from 2011 to 2013 and was on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Technical Advisory Committee.
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The Covid-19 pandemic helped spur innovation in health care, from the wide adoption of telemedicine, health apps and online pharmacies to mRNA vaccines. But what will the next health care innovations look like? Join POLITICO on Wednesday June 7 for our Health Care Summit to explore how tech and innovation are transforming care and the challenges ahead for access and delivery in the United States. REGISTER NOW. | | | | | | | | | OUT OF VIEW: Remote work policies are masking drug and alcohol misuse among workers and may be accelerating addiction’s grasp on them, Bloomberg reports. “[T]reatment programs are over-enrolled in the wake of the pandemic, fueled by extended remote or hybrid arrangements that offer a dangerous triad: steady paychecks, proximity to drugs and alcohol out of view from co-workers, and incentive to maintain day-to-day functionality.” A May 2022 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that substance use disorder has risen more than 20 percent since the pandemic and led to a drop in labor force participation between 9 and 26 percent. More workplace news: “Covid transformed the U.S. labor market, and it isn’t done yet,” from NBC News.
| | | NYC PASSES WEIGHT DISCRIMINATION BILL: The New York City Council last week voted to designate weight as a characteristic protected from discrimination, including in employment, CNN reports. Michigan and Washington already prohibit discrimination based on weight and obesity, as do Washington, D.C., and a handful of other cities. Mayor Eric Adams has signaled support for the effort but has not said whether he’d sign the bill. Some business groups oppose the legislation, arguing its overly broad. More state news: “Fraudulent Jobless Claims in Massachusetts Boosted Recent US Data,” from Bloomberg.
| | | THE COST OF STATE’S INACTION: The State Department’s struggles to clear its backlog of green card petitions could stymie foreign nurses’ ability to come work in the U.S., our Kelly Hooper reports. The department announced in its May bulletin it moved the cut-off date for visa eligibility to June 1, 2022 because of soaring demand. Anyone who filed a green card petition in the past year — which could include thousands of nurses — won’t be able to proceed with their applications. International nurses have proven for many hospitals and health systems to be a useful tool at combating those staffing shortages — with foreign workers comprising about 15 percent of the workforce, a number that’s nearly doubled in the last decade. More immigration news: “Suburban New York hotel is latest symbol of immigration divide,” from POLITICO New York’s Katelyn Cordero.
| | — “End of the Billable Hour? Law Firms Get On Board With Artificial Intelligence,” from The Wall Street Journal. — “Rail workers see cuts in benefits due to previous debt ceiling deal,” from The Washington Post. — “Want your hotel room cleaned every day? Hotel housekeepers hope you say yes,” from NPR. — “Sexual Harassment Claims Spurred Shakeup Atop José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen,” from Bloomberg. THAT’S ALL FOR SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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