I haven’t done a legislative roundup in a bit, and it’s time – there are several threads to look at.
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that employers can no longer demand laid-off employees avoid publicly disparaging the company as part of their severance agreements, nor can they stop affected employees from disclosing the terms of their exit packages. Doing so, the federal agency determined would be a violation of the laid-off employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act.
In the “potential” column, here are two:
The Upholding Protections for Health and Online Location Data (UPHOLD) Privacy Act aims to resolve lingering concerns over the online safety of abortion-seeking patients. The bill would ban personally identifiable health data from being used for targeted advertising and bar the sale of precision location data to data brokerages.
I missed this earlier in the month. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) reintroduced a bill in the House that would make the 32-hour workweek a national standard and lower the threshold triggering overtime compensation for most employees. The previous version didn’t get a hearing and likely won’t this year either… but he did put it forward.
Why do we care?
I won’t overblow the potential laws – they’re bills, and so it’s all maybe—just an update on what is being considered.
However, the NLRB’s ruling is in play now. Be aware of these changes – with non-competes under scrutiny, too, the rules for employers are changing fast. Frankly, it’s never wise to leverage the stick when you can offer the carrot.