2023 was fairly the 12 months when it comes to notable occasions and 2024 is shaping as much as be no completely different. Listed below are among the greatest labor-related information tales from final 12 months. Even if you happen to didn’t hear about these occasions, there’s a superb likelihood you’ll seemingly really feel their results, even when not directly.
Key Supreme Courtroom Choices
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Courtroom issued three main employment-related choices. Probably the most distinguished was College students for Honest Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard Faculty. On this case, the Supreme Courtroom struck down the usage of affirmative motion within the faculty admissions course of.
This determination solely applies to the faculty admissions course of and doesn’t apply to employers. Nonetheless, in an abundance of warning, employers could reduce or remove variety, fairness and inclusion insurance policies. This might make it more durable for employers to diversify their workforce.
The second employment-related determination was Groff v. DeJoy. Employers could now not deny a non secular lodging as a result of it imposes a small or minor inconvenience on the employer. Now, the employer has to offer the non secular lodging until it locations a considerable burden on the employer. Time will inform precisely what the brand new normal means in observe, however it’s clear that it’s going to imply the employer should attempt more durable to offer the lodging.
The ultimate case obtained little media consideration, however it’s nonetheless necessary when it comes to the Honest Labor Requirements Act of 1938 and additional time pay. The Supreme Courtroom’s determination in Helix Vitality Options Group, Inc. v. Hewitt redefines how the bona fide government additional time exemption applies. Right here, even when an worker receives important compensation (suppose six figures in annual compensation), they may nonetheless be eligible for additional time pay.
ChatGPT
Synthetic intelligence isn’t new, however it made a giant splash in 2023 with ChatGPT. The general deserves of this know-how are up for debate and the way it will change our lives remains to be being determined. But many individuals are already utilizing it for work for duties resembling drafting correspondence, analysis, brainstorming, writing pc code and searching for patterns in giant quantities of knowledge.
Organized Labor
The coronavirus pandemic helped shift labor bargaining energy to staff. Final 12 months was a notable milestone for this transition due to a number of profitable strikes. The largest was in all probability the United Auto Employees strike, which resulted in important wage will increase and the return of cost-of-living changes (amongst different issues). A number of different important profitable strikes included:
- Kaiser Permanente: staff obtained across-the-board pay raises, bonuses and guarantees to handle staffing points.
- SAG-AFTRA: the deal caused greater wages, higher bonuses for streaming content material and important synthetic intelligence protections.
- Writers Guild of America: main phrases of the settlement included limitations positioned on the usage of synthetic intelligence, wage will increase and compensation minimums for streaming content material.
Easing of Baby Labor Legal guidelines
The issue of kid labor in america continues to exist and is arguably getting worse. But some states have rolled again baby labor legal guidelines. A part of this transfer is to make it simpler for employers to seek out staff in a decent labor market. Critics argue this might make it simpler for employers to use kids or for kids to get damage whereas employed.
In March 2023, Arkansas enacted a regulation that eradicated sure age verification and certificates necessities for workers underneath 16. In Could 2023, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed into regulation a invoice that elevated the variety of hours youngsters might work throughout the faculty 12 months.
This new regulation additionally allowed kids to take sure jobs they beforehand couldn’t, resembling serving alcohol and dealing in manufacturing, so long as sure circumstances had been met. There are questions as as to whether sure provisions of Iowa’s regulation can survive authorized challenges the place they battle with federal employment legal guidelines.
Iowa and Arkansas aren’t the one states which have efficiently loosened baby labor restrictions. In addition they in all probability received’t be the final, given what number of different states have launched related payments.
The 4-Day Workweek Good points Steam
There’s been a world development of corporations experimenting with the thought of shifting from a standard five-day workweek to a four-day workweek. Led by organizations like 4 Day Week World, the purpose is to have staff work 4 days in every week, but retain the identical pay and productiveness as a five-day workweek. Nonetheless, relying on how the schedule is applied, staff may match both the identical variety of hours or 20% fewer hours.
The outcomes from varied experiments and research present that usually, it’s well-received by staff and their employers. And whereas it’s not for everybody or each employer, it seems like the thought of the four-day workweek is right here to remain for a lot of workplaces.
Being pregnant and Breast Feeding Legal guidelines Go into Impact
Two key being pregnant and breastfeeding federal legal guidelines went into impact final 12 months. First, there was the Offering Pressing Maternal Protections for Nursing Moms Act or PUMP Act. This regulation took the advantages and protections from the Break Time for Nursing Moms Legislation which Congress handed as a part of the Affected person Safety and Inexpensive Care Act in 2010 and utilized them to virtually all staff coated by the Honest Labor Requirements Act of 1938.
Earlier than the PUMP Act, solely staff who had been eligible for additional time pay underneath the FLSA might obtain office breastfeeding advantages. One other addition introduced by the PUMP Act is that staff now have a number of authorized treatments obtainable for violations of this regulation, resembling equitable aid and compensatory, liquidated and compensatory damages.
Subsequent, there was the Pregnant Employees Equity Act. Going into impact in June, this regulation required coated employers (these with 15 or extra staff) to offer affordable lodging to eligible staff for limitations as a consequence of their being pregnant, childbirth or associated medical circumstances.
Loud Quitting
In 2022 we had been launched to quiet quitting. In 2023 we discovered about loud quitting. Whereas the definition of quiet quitting is pretty constant, what it means to loud stop appears to range. One definition refers to loud quitting as a employee vocalizing their unhappiness at work.
One other definition consists of the employee proactively discovering methods to hurt their employer. Loud quitting can exist whether or not the employee continues to stick with their employer or stop. These actions have been round for ages, so this will simply be extra proof of employee empowerment.
Backside Line
Final 12 months noticed a number of constructive modifications for staff and mirrored the ability shift in favor of staff that started with the coronavirus pandemic. 2024 may even see this development proceed, though it’s doable that 2023 could signify the height of this energy shift.