2016 was a busy year for human resources professionals. Many new laws and policies were passed around the country that will come into effect in 2017. Among the legal trends were many new rules that could significantly impact your company in the coming year. From scheduling to overtime payments, these new laws mean an adjustment period is coming for HR professionals and business owners. For a recap of the top legal trends of the year, keep reading.
CEO Pay Ratios
This year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will require public companies to calculate how the compensation of chief executives compares with their workers’ median pay. The reports will be required for the proxy statements reporting on fiscal year 2017. If you haven’t already begun working through the calculations that will be required, it may be time to take a look at the numbers.
Here’s how you should be preparing employees for public CEO pay ratios.
Overtime Rule
Developments with the overtime rule put in place by the U.S. Department of Labor have continued throughout last year, and we can expect more news on the rule in 2017. The rule was preliminarily blocked by a federal district court in November 2016, which has put a hold on the rule for now. There are several possible fates for the rule, which would raise the exempt salary level from $26,600 to $47,476 if passed in its current form.
The Trump administration could block the rule permanently, and this is a likely possibility. Congress could also roll back the regulations, which would require the rule to be rewritten and could possibly place the exempt level at well below $47,476.
The future of the overtime rule is uncertain. These are the details you need to know about the blocking of the rule.
Parental Leave
Many new paid sick-leave laws were enacted across the nation in 2016, and most will take effect in 2017. Among the new paid leave laws were several focused on parental leave, and attorneys expect that we will see movement at the state level on this issue soon. We can expect to see many proposed rules on parental leave in 2017, and they will most likely come in many forms. These laws could range from six weeks of partially-paid leave to 12 weeks of fully-paid leave.
Even if a new paternal leave law is not coming to your state this year, these policies can boost morale and productivity for new parents. Here’s how you can help parents get back into the groove after parental leave.
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