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What I've Been Reading This Week


Quite the week for several developments on the labor & employment law front.  With that being said, the seminal moment might have been the confirmation of Alexander Acosta as the next Labor Secretary.  For those readers who followed the struggle the original nominee for the position had, Acosta's relatively smooth confirmation process was likely a welcomed bit of good news by the Trump administration as the President approaches the end of his first hundred days in office. 

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Senate Votes to Confirm Acosta as Next Labor Secretary

As I mentioned above, late yesterday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary.  As expected, the vote fell mainly along party lines.  However, with Republicans having the necessary votes (a majority) to confirm Acosta without needing any Democrats, this nomination and confirmation were never really in serious doubt.  Since the announcement of his nomination for Labor Secretary, Acosta had been widely praised and recognized as a relatively 'safe' choice for President Trump to have selected.  Now that he has been confirmed, it will be interesting to see how Acosta deals with minimum wage and overtime issues (and other Obama era regulations)...with those matters having become a focal point during his confirmation hearing after he declined to offer direct answers on several of these topics.


Minimum Wage Bills Moving Through Illinois Legislature

Currently, Illinois Democrats are pushing a few minimum wage bills through the State Legislature.  Notably, one of the bills seeks to raise the hourly minimum wage rate from its current rate of $8.25/hour all the way up to $15/hour over the next five years.  Although Republican Governor Bruce Rauner has indicated he would oppose the minimum wage bills currently in the Legislature, I think it is possible he would not veto a bill that had a modest minimum wage hike.  However, I think it is highly unlikely that a $15/hour minimum wage bill would become a reality in the state in the near future...but perhaps if a Democratic governor is elected next year, things could change.


Philip Miscimarra Named Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board

Late last week, President Donald Trump appointed Philip Miscimarra to chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.  This comes on the heels of President Trump having named Miscimarra as Acting Chairman back in January.  Miscimarra, nominated by President Barack Obama, was confirmed as a Board Member in July 2013.  With that being said, until President Trump nominates more Board Members (that can be confirmed by the Senate), I would not expect a substantial shift in Board rulings.  Keep an eye on this one though; it is quite likely that more employer friendly rulings will be issued by the NLRB once more Republicans are appointed to the Board.

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