No matter who wins the upcoming election, changes are likely coming to the human resources front.
But what might those changes be, and which candidate will bring greater change?
HR Dive evaluated key election issues to see if it could single out what might be coming down the pipeline, and what might bring the biggest compliance problems. They started off with the Affordable Care Act.
According to Jim O’Connell, an executive consultant at Ceridian, while Republicans have steadfastly pursued repeal, a more realistic evaluation would be the “4 Rs.”
O’Connell says Republicans would be looking for retention of some aspects of the ACA, such as prohibiting exclusion of those with pre-existing conditions. They’d also seek to remove “prescriptive federal requirements, including the excise or ‘Cadillac Tax.’”
Replacement of ACA provisions that claim certain benefits packages must be offered in every exchange is also on their list, and they seek to create more flexibility to give consumers a voice in the process. Last but not least is the potential reduction of the individual and employer mandates, despite the opinion of many experts that those mandates are essential to making the markets work.
Democrats, on the other hand, look to expand and build on the existing ACA, which is sure to bring its own compliance issues.
When it comes to the Family Medical Leave Act, Clinton’s plan would require employers to provide 12 weeks of paid leave for family matters. Trump’s plan would instead provide what amounts to a childcare tax credit and six weeks of paid maternity leave (fathers wouldn’t qualify, nor would adoptive parents or unmarried mothers) that would be paid for out of cuts to unemployment insurance fraud.
Neither party is backing its candidate’s plan 100 percent, and compliance issues are already legion, thanks to a range of state and city regulations.
According to Mike Aitken, vice president of government affairs at the Society for Human Resource Management, a third option of a federal safe harbor law would help employers — but no such law has yet been proposed.
Pay and immigration issues
In the areas of compensation, time and wages, activists won’t be happy with either candidate when it comes to the minimum wage. Trump said he’d support one of $10, but also supports states setting wages “as appropriate for their state.”
Clinton backs a $12 minimum, but the calls in various parts of the country for a $15 minimum won’t be silenced by that.
When it comes to pay equity, Massachusetts’s new law has broadened protections under the “comparable work” clause. And for overtime, O’Connell doesn’t see executive office action on the new Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule, saying in the article that that the U.S. Department of Labor “totally has the authority to do this.”
Last but not least is immigration, and concerns over E-Verify and current I-9 form regulations. Trump would mandate E-Verify, while Clinton hasn’t mentioned it.
The system isn’t perfect, though, with the potential for double jeopardy for employers who have errors on both I-9 and E-Verify forms. And Aitken pointed out that the lack of potential for bipartisan action in Congress, given the two parties’ very different attitudes toward the issue, probably means that if anything is to happen, it will likely have to be via executive order. “I just don’t know if in this environment that that will be done,” he said in the article. “It’s a pretty divisive issue.”
Clinton is leaning toward continuation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans bills, and she’s also spoken in favor of H-1B reform and increased visas. Trump could go the E-Verify route — or opt to build a wall instead.
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