After creating a significant amount of uncertainty as to whether he would do so, President Trump on December 27 signed into law a massive bill that both funds the government through the rest of fiscal year 2021 – October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021 – and also contains significant coronavirus relief.
As for the spending provisions, the bill increases funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Labor Department’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). In contrast, DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were flat-funded.
Other provisions in the massive bill extend the authorization for the E-Verify Program and the tax credit for certain paid family and medical leave programs; extend for a brief time the ability to take tax credits to pay for qualifying leave offered under the paid leave programs established by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, although they do not extend the programs themselves; and expand several current whistleblower retaliation laws.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.