Jeff Nowak featured in Daily Labor Report article on President Obama's Labor and Employment Initiatives

Firm partner Jeff Nowak was quoted extensively in an August 4, 2009 Daily Labor Report article entitled "Obama's Approach to Labor, Employment Seen as Aggressive, but Pragmatic." The article highlights a presentation Mr. Nowak gave to attendees at the American Bar Association's annual meeting held this week in Chicago. The presentation provided ABA attendees an overview of President Obama's labor and employment initiatives, including workplace legislation currently pending in Congress. In providing an overview of the Obama Administration, Mr. Nowak warned, "We are about to go through one of the biggest shifts in workplace law that we will see in any of our lifetimes," and declared that a Democratic-controlled White House and Congress has created a "perfect storm" for legislation that would affect labor relations and enlarge the scope of individual employee rights for decades to come.

Offering practical advice to employers to comply with the recently enacted Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Mr. Nowak and other panelists also provided guidance on other labor and employment legislative initiatives that lie ahead, such as the Employee Free Choice Act and a variety of bills currently pending in Congress that would require employers to provide paid leave to their employees and legislation that would significantly expand the scope of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Providing insight into what lies ahead for employers, Mr. Nowak commented, "There clearly will be a paradigm shift in the balance between work and family, with the administration offering employees additional rights to permit them to better balance workplace duties and their personal and family lives."

Click here to view the full text of the article. Also, an overview of Mr. Nowak’s remarks and guidance for employers at the ABA annual meeting can be accessed here.