2023 was fairly the 12 months when it comes to notable occasions and 2024 is shaping as much as be no totally different. Listed below are a few of the largest labor-related information tales from final 12 months. Even in case you didn’t hear about these occasions, there’s a superb likelihood you’ll possible really feel their results, even when not directly.

Key Supreme Court docket Selections

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court docket issued three main employment-related selections. Probably the most distinguished was College students for Truthful Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard Faculty. On this case, the Supreme Court docket struck down the usage of affirmative motion within the faculty admissions course of.

This choice solely applies to the faculty admissions course of and doesn’t apply to employers. Nonetheless, in an abundance of warning, employers might cut back or get rid of range, fairness and inclusion insurance policies. This might make it more durable for employers to diversify their workforce.

The second employment-related choice was Groff v. DeJoy. Employers might not deny a spiritual lodging as a result of it imposes a small or minor inconvenience on the employer. Now, the employer has to offer the spiritual lodging except it locations a considerable burden on the employer. Time will inform precisely what the brand new commonplace means in observe, however it’s clear that it’ll imply the employer should strive more durable to offer the lodging.

The ultimate case acquired little media consideration, however it’s nonetheless necessary when it comes to the Truthful Labor Requirements Act of 1938 and extra time pay. The Supreme Court docket’s choice in Helix Vitality Options Group, Inc. v. Hewitt redefines how the bona fide government extra time exemption applies. Right here, even when an worker receives vital compensation (assume six figures in annual compensation), they may nonetheless be eligible for extra time pay.

ChatGPT

Synthetic intelligence isn’t new, however it made a giant splash in 2023 with ChatGPT. The general deserves of this expertise are up for debate and the way it will change our lives remains to be being determined. But many individuals are already utilizing it for work for duties akin to drafting correspondence, analysis, brainstorming, writing laptop code and in search of patterns in giant quantities of information.

Organized Labor

The coronavirus pandemic helped shift labor bargaining energy to employees. Final 12 months was a notable milestone for this transition due to a number of profitable strikes. The most important was most likely the United Auto Employees strike, which resulted in vital wage will increase and the return of cost-of-living changes (amongst different issues). A number of different vital profitable strikes included:

• Kaiser Permanente: employees acquired across-the-board pay raises, bonuses and guarantees to deal with staffing points.
• SAG-AFTRA: the deal led to increased wages, higher bonuses for streaming content material and vital synthetic intelligence protections.
• Writers Guild of America: main phrases of the settlement included limitations positioned on the usage of synthetic intelligence, wage will increase and compensation minimums for streaming content material.

Easing of Youngster Labor Legal guidelines

The issue of kid labor in america continues to exist and is arguably getting worse. But some states have rolled again little one labor legal guidelines. A part of this transfer is to make it simpler for employers to search out employees in a good labor market. Critics argue this might make it simpler for employers to take advantage of kids or for youngsters to get damage whereas employed.

In March 2023, Arkansas enacted a regulation that eradicated sure age verification and certificates necessities for workers beneath 16. In Might 2023, Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa signed into regulation a invoice that elevated the variety of hours youngsters might work in the course of the college 12 months.

This new regulation additionally allowed kids to take sure jobs they beforehand couldn’t, akin to serving alcohol and dealing in manufacturing, so long as sure circumstances have been met. There are questions as as to if sure provisions of Iowa’s regulation can survive authorized challenges the place they battle with federal employment legal guidelines.

Iowa and Arkansas aren’t the one states which have efficiently loosened little one labor restrictions. Additionally they most likely received’t be the final, given what number of different states have launched comparable payments.

The 4-Day Workweek Features Steam

There’s been a worldwide pattern of firms experimenting with the thought of shifting from a standard five-day workweek to a four-day workweek. Led by organizations like 4 Day Week International, the objective is to have workers work 4 days in per week, but retain the identical pay and productiveness as a five-day workweek. Nonetheless, relying on how the schedule is carried out, workers may go both the identical variety of hours or 20% fewer hours.

The outcomes from numerous experiments and research present that most often, it’s well-received by employees and their employers. And whereas it’s not for everybody or each employer, it appears to be like like the thought of the four-day workweek is right here to remain for a lot of workplaces.

Being pregnant and Breast Feeding Legal guidelines Go into Impact

Two key being pregnant and breastfeeding federal legal guidelines went into impact final 12 months. First, there was the Offering Pressing Maternal Protections for Nursing Moms Act or PUMP Act. This regulation took the advantages and protections from the Break Time for Nursing Moms Legislation which Congress handed as a part of the Affected person Safety and Reasonably priced Care Act in 2010 and utilized them to nearly all employees coated by the Truthful Labor Requirements Act of 1938.

Earlier than the PUMP Act, solely workers who have been eligible for extra time pay beneath the FLSA might obtain office breastfeeding advantages. One other addition introduced by the PUMP Act is that workers now have a number of authorized cures out there for violations of this regulation, akin to equitable aid and compensatory, liquidated and compensatory damages.

Subsequent, there was the Pregnant Employees Equity Act. Going into impact in June, this regulation required coated employers (these with 15 or extra workers) to offer cheap lodging to eligible workers for limitations resulting from their being pregnant, childbirth or associated medical circumstances.

Loud Quitting

In 2022 we have been launched to quiet quitting. In 2023 we realized about loud quitting. Whereas the definition of quiet quitting is pretty constant, what it means to loud give up appears to fluctuate. One definition refers to loud quitting as a employee vocalizing their unhappiness at work.

One other definition consists of the employee proactively discovering methods to hurt their employer. Loud quitting can exist whether or not the employee continues to stick with their employer or give up. These actions have been round for ages, so this may occasionally simply be extra proof of employee empowerment.

Backside Line

Final 12 months noticed plenty of optimistic adjustments for employees and mirrored the ability shift in favor of employees that started with the coronavirus pandemic. 2024 may even see this pattern proceed, though it’s attainable that 2023 might symbolize the height of this energy shift.