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Friday, November 6, 2009

Omnibus Legislative Update

There’s been no shortage of news on the legislative front of the world of employment law. There’s so much that I’m doing a brief omnibus blog entry to close out the work week.

- Congress passed a bill (98-0 in the Senate and 403-12 in the House) to extend unemployment benefits (incidentally, it also extends the first-time homebuyer’s credit). AFP reports:
“The legislation allows workers in all 50 US states to get 14 more weeks of unemployment benefits, while those in states with jobless rates over 8.5 percent would be able to draw an additional six weeks for a total of 20.”
News breaking that Obama just signed it today.

- George Miller (D-CA) introduced a bill that would direct “employers to pay for up to five days' sick leave for workers they send home because they have contracted the H1N1 virus.” WSJ reports that it's not clear whether the bill has the "support of House leadership or Senate Democrats."

- And then there’s some health care bill floating around that you haven’t really heard much about… unless you have television, radio, or access to the Internet. A vote on the health care bill appears imminent.

All of this is set against a backdrop of just-announced 10.2% unemployment with nearly 16 million unemployed.

Sidenote: My sources today are AFP, CBSNews, WSJ, and FoxNews... how's that for media diversity?

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