labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Both the US House and the Senate have tabled ENDA for the present. Efforts to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will clearly continue in 2010, but success is far from certain.

In early December 2009, the House Education and Labor Committee failed to reschedule a cancelled November markup session for the bill, also referred to as H.R. 3017.

ENDA would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation nationwide. While a number of states including California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois currently have statutes that prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, there is no ban under federal law.

Key issues under discussion include the focus on attorney fees and whether victims of job bias could seek relief under ENDA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

At least some members of Congress are optimistic that ENDA (more…)

Michigan seems poised to pass a smoking ban that would affect almost all employers, including restaurants and bars, in the next legislative session. Both the state house and senate passed bills protecting employees from second-hand smoke in the workplace in 2008. However, the two bills had significant differences and the legislature was unable to resolve those differences before they adjourned for the summer in late May.

Bills to ban smoking in restaurants and bars were introduced in 2007 in both the Michigan House and Senate. In each case, the bills generated a lot of debate and were sent into the 2008 legislative session.

In the spring of 2008, (more…)