Labor And Employment Law Under The Trump Administration: A Brief Overview For Colorado Employers

With the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president last month, many are wondering what impact the new Trump administration will have on employers. President-elect Trump has given few details regarding his plans for labor and employment policy, but the following is a summary of how different areas of labor and employment could be affected by the incoming administration.

Wage and Hour

Colorado's minimum wage will rise to $9.30 per hour in 2017. It is uncertain whether the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009, will rise in the next four years. A top concern of 2017 will be the shakeout following a federal judge's preliminary injunction suspending implementation of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) overtime rule, which had proposed revising the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to raise the minimum salary that an employee must make to be exempt from overtime from $455 per week (which annualizes to $23,660 per year) to $913 per week (which annualizes to $47,476 per year). The overtime rule could still be implemented down the road, but the continuing appeal of this judge's ruling will fall to the new Trump administration, which may not be as motivated to enforce these Obama administration regulations. During the presidential campaign, President-elect Trump and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, unveiled policy proposals aimed at providing paid maternity leave. Further details concerning the program have yet to emerge. Employee Benefits

During his campaign, President-elect Trump indicated that one of his administration's highest priorities would be to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the ACA or, popularly, Obamacare) and replace it with an alternative program. Congress has spent much of the past six years unsuccessfully attempting to repeal the ACA, and the prevailing opinion is that with Trump in the White House, these efforts will bear fruit within the opening days of the Trump administration. However, both the President-elect and Congress are now grappling with many of the same complexities that have bedeviled healthcare reform efforts for over 20 years, and it is unclear which of the many competing proposals will actually gain traction in the new Congress or find favor with the White House or the affected constituencies.

In the face of these uncertainties, employers should prepare for changes but expect that their details will be unknown for some time, potentially several years. In the...

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