Employment Law Year That Wasn’t

Shortly before the election of 2008, I did a post about laws that were likely to be considered and probably passed in 2009. Of course, there are several other possible new labor and employment laws pending, which I’ve blogged about both before and after the 2008 election.

A year ago, most labor and employment lawyers and HR professionals would have been in disbelief if we had been told that the only one of these laws to be enacted by the middle of December 2009 was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. But that’s indeed the case. It was the first law signed by President Obama. Since then, nothing.

Organized labor and other groups expecting the Obama administration to usher in a new era of employment laws favoring employees have shown remarkable patience. President Obama has been so involved with economic recovery and health care reform that possible new employment laws have been put on the back burner. While I’m inclined to say that can’t last forever, my record as a legislative prognosticator is not so hot.

There’s obviously a lot of proposed legislation still out there. Various interest groups still have high expectations for the enactment of this legislation. President Obama is still undoubtedly interested in most of these proposals becoming law. What’s unclear is how much of the window of opportunity that existed at the beginning of the President’s first term is still open. It’s likely that some Congressional supporters of the legislation may develop a severe case of heartburn given their upcoming reelection bids in 2010.  

Some of these proposals will surely be voted on in 2010, but what are the chances now of their passage? Another important question is how much will these proposals have to be watered down in order to have a chance of passage? Time will tell. It’s just taking more time than anyone ever expected.