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, which was entitled "Labor and Employment Legislation Impacting Federal Construction Under the New Administration," provided ABA attendees an overview of President Obama's labor and employment initiatives, including workplace legislation currently pending in Congress. 

Click here to view the full text of the article.

As reported by the Daily Labor Report, during the ABA presentation, Mr. Nowak:

• provided an overview of the Obama Administration and its labor and employment priorities.  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. 
• predicted that the new Administration ultimately would demonstrate a "pragmatic" approach on labor and employment issues, suggesting that President Obama would act more aggressively on individual employee rights and work-family issues than on labor issues. 
• offered practical guidance for employers to ensure compliance with the Ledbetter Act, which provides for a new cause of action alleging discrimination in compensation each time an employee receives a paycheck.  Mr. Nowak urged employers to re-examine their compensation practices for pay disparities that disproportionately affect legally protected groups and to audit the manner in which they document personnel decisions.
• analyzed several pieces of legislation 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."