EEO-1 Developments (Beltway Buzz, March 22, 2019)

The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what's happening in Washington, D.C. could impact your business.

EEO-1 Developments. Kiosha H. Dickey has the details on some developments regarding litigation over the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) EEO-1 form. Even with the recent decision to lift the stay of the EEO-1 wage and hours worked collection component, the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) approval of the EEO-1 form expires on September 30, 2019. At that point, the EEOC will have to resubmit its EEO-1 form for a new three-year OMB approval. Will a new submission require employers to submit wage and hours worked data? Or will the EEOC simply resubmit the traditional EEO-1 form? It probably depends on the makeup of the Commission at that point (if the Senate confirms Janet Dhillon, the EEOC will have a 2-1 Republican majority). In any case, even if the EEOC or a district court provides some clarity on this matter in the near term, things could be very different by the fall.

Joint-Employer Rulemaking Scrutinized. Remember when the Buzz predicted that Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor would use their newfound oversight authority to scrutinize policymaking at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and other agencies? Well, late last week, Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Chairwoman Frederica Wilson of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions sent a letter to the NLRB inquiring about "reports" that the Board "plans to outsource to a private contractor the task of reviewing public comments submitted in response to its rulemaking on the standard for determining joint employer status." The letter asks the Board to turn over to the committee a slew of documents relating to the alleged outsourcing plan. Earlier today, NLRB Chairman John Ring responded to the letter by denying the allegation and stating that the legislators had been "misinformed." Regardless, the letter could potentially slow down the eventual promulgation of a final joint-employer rule while simultaneously raising the specter of a conflict of interest—an allegation that is likely to be included in any legal challenge to an eventual final rule.

Rabbit Season! Duck Season! H-1B Season! On March 19, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the beginning of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 H-1B cap...