Employee Relations.

Major Issues.

Unemployment Compensation (UC)

Support any legislative actions necessary and appropriate to safeguard the solvency of the state UC trust fund so as to prevent employer UC tax increases. Support legislation to fine-tune the UC law in Louisiana and eliminate employee and employer abuses. Oppose legislation that would expand UC coverage.

Workers’ Compensation (WC)

Support legislation to strengthen Louisiana’s WC law and oppose legislation that would expand WC coverage beyond the “Grand Bargain” and increase costs to employers. Support legislation that makes Louisiana’s WC system not only balanced and equitable but also one which is competitive with other states and encourages a quicker return to work for injured employees. To this end, LABI will:

• work to implement a competitive, evidence-based pharmacy formulary that is designed to provide necessary medication to injured workers in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost, and to prevent unnecessary drug prescribing and dispensing;
• support legislation and administrative regulations to provide for quality, appropriate and evidence-based medical treatment and ancillary services, including legislation to defend and enhance the proper utilization of the Medical Treatment Schedule and to apply correct limitations and standards for the appeal process connected with review of medical director’s decisions;
• defend the exclusive remedy and statutory employer provisions of the WC law;
• promote prosecution of the crime of WC fraud and protect employers’ ability to obtain restitution of fraudulently obtained benefits and defeat fraudulent claims;
• advise the employer community of judicial and administrative decisions that destroy the effectiveness of legislated reforms in WC;
• support efforts to create an efficient and less costly WC market by encouraging continued growth and increased competition within the voluntary market;
• amend, as needed, the WC confidentiality rules or laws to provide reasonable provisions governing both the protection and release of WC information and employers’ access to information regarding current and past claims;
• support legislation equalizing all WC indemnity benefits to a percentage of after-tax income;
• support legislation to reduce unnecessary litigation costs and excessive penalties and attorney fees;

Current Issues.

Collective Bargaining: Oppose legislation requiring and support legislation restricting collective bargaining and/or binding arbitration by any public body.

Drug-Free Workplace: Support legislation and promote administrative policies that make it easier for employers to maintain a drug-free workplace in Louisiana.

Employee Leasing: Support legislation to ensure that professional employer organizations/employee-leasing firms do not insulate their clients from their WC and/or UC experience rating and oppose any erosion of existing statutory protections.

Employer Liability: Support legislation to limit employer liability doctrines and oppose legislation that would expand employer liability. Support legislation to repair judicially imposed employer liability doctrines established contrary to legislative intent.

Employment-at-Will: Support legislation to ensure employment-at-will as a right of all Louisiana employers.

Employment Compensation: Support legislation to protect employers’ right to establish employment compensation as they deem appropriate and oppose any erosion of existing rights.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Support equal employment opportunity by coordinating existing state and federal antidiscrimination laws but oppose any legislation that would expand upon existing remedies and protections. Support the repeal of any laws that prohibit or limit employer rights.

Forum Selection: Support legislation to protect and enhance the freedom to contract with respect to forum selection in the employment relationship.

Government Contracting: Oppose any unreasonable administrative or legislative action pertaining to labor or employment law that would deny businesses the right to contract with government.

Incumbent Worker Training Program: Oppose legislation that would continue funding for the IWTP below the dollar amounts and trust fund trigger points in current law and enhance business access and greater flexibility in the use of monies for worker training, particularly for small businesses.

Independent Contractors: Protect the statutory criteria established for determining a worker’s independent contractor status and support the implementation of “fresh start” and “safe harbor” provisions for employers who self-report incidents of employee misclassification.

Mandated Employee Benefits: Oppose any statutory intrusion into the area of employee/employer relationships, including but not limited to mandated benefits. Oppose any creation or expansion of government-mandated benefits under employer health plans except when there is a documented, actuarially positive cost/benefit for such mandates. Support state legislation that minimizes any adverse impact of federal health care mandates.

Minimum Wage: Oppose legislation establishing a state minimum wage.

Noncompetition Agreements: Oppose any erosion of the statutes that protect businesses from unfair competition by allowing them to enter into noncompetition agreements with their employees and support appropriate legislation to fine-tune such statutes as necessary.

Prevailing Wage: Oppose any attempts by the Legislature to re-enact a prevailing wage law, which would result in the state or local governments – and by extension, taxpayers – paying more for goods and services than is paid by businesses in the private sector.

Right-to-Work: Do everything necessary to maintain Louisiana as a Right-to-Work state, including opposing “agency shop” legislation, which would force non-union employees to pay dues to a union just like its members.

Second Injury Fund: Continue to assess the viability of the Second Injury Fund and support legislation to establish an equitable assessment method for its funding.

Unemployment Compensation: Support legislation to fine-tune the UC law in Louisiana and eliminate employee and employer abuses. Oppose legislation that would expand UC coverage.

Wage Records: Support full implementation of Act 822 of the 2012 regular session, allowing electronic access to wage records.

Workplace Safety: Support workplace safety measures including compliance with OSHA requirements but oppose legislation that would impose arbitrary standards placing Louisiana businesses at a disadvantage relative to their counterparts in neighboring states.

Workers’ Compensation Medical Reimbursement: Support legislation to update the workers’ compensation medical reimbursement schedule, and to expedite and reduce medical billing disputes.

Contacts.

Patrick Robinson serves as Director of the Employee Relations Council. In this capacity, his responsibilities include labor issues, such as workers’ and unemployment compensation.

Patrick Robinson

Director, Employee Relations Council, Workers’ Compensation Task Force & Unemployment Compensation Task Force, LABI
(225) 215-6657
patrickr@labi.org

Trent Oubre

Chair, Employee Relations Council

Current Issues.

Advice Exemption: Oppose efforts by the U.S. Department of Labor to significantly restrict by regulation the “advice exemption” under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.

Comparable Worth: Oppose attempts to impose “comparable worth” in the workplace, including an expansion of the existing federal “equal pay” provisions.

Davis-Bacon Act: Support repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, which is a federal type of prevailing wage law that results in the federal government – and by extension, taxpayers – paying more for goods and services than is paid by businesses in the private sector.

Drug-Free Workplace: Support legislation to promote a drug-free workplace. Oppose legislation, rules or standards that inhibit an employer’s right to drug test and to maintain a drug-free workplace.

Employee Training: Support federal workforce development legislation that enhances the effectiveness of the state workforce development statutes.

Employer Liability: Support legislation to limit employer liability doctrines and oppose legislation that would expand employer liability.

Federal Employee Wage Garnishment: Support legislation to allow garnishment of federal employees’ wages.

Federal Intervention in Benefit Plans: Oppose legislation and regulations that restrict employers or place further burdens on employers sponsoring benefit plans, including cafeteria plans.

Federal Minimum Wage: Oppose any increase in the federal minimum wage.

Government Contracting: Oppose any unreasonable administrative or legislative action pertaining to labor or employment law that would deny businesses the right to contract with government.

Mandated Employee Benefits: Oppose legislation that would increase costs to employers resulting from governmentally mandated benefits, including health care plans and expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Mandatory Vaccination: Oppose federal efforts to impose mandates of employee vaccinations or disease testing, or any requirement that employers cover costs from such mandates. Employers must be free to determine and decide what is appropriate for their individual operations and employees in such matters.

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA): Continue to support efforts to remove the requirement that unions represent nonmembers in a bargaining unit. Support amendments to the NLRA that would permit both union and nonunion employees to share decision-making responsibility with management. Oppose the provisions of the so-called PRO Act legislation, which seeks to do away with the balance in labor/management relationships currently assured under the NLRA and oppose attempts to include any of its components in other legislation. Oppose efforts that would prohibit construction industry double breasting or allow common situs picketing. Support efforts to restrict liberalization promoted by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Oppose any proposed rule or law that weakens an employer’s right to maintain a drug free workplace, or which requires employers to meet an unreasonable and costly ergonomic or other OSHA safety standard established without scientific validation of its value.

Overtime Pay: Oppose legislation and/or rules/regulations that would unreasonably increase an employers’ responsibility for payment of overtime obligations.

Right-to-Work: Oppose legislation to repeal or weaken Section 14B of the Taft-Hartley Act, which authorizes state Right-to-Work laws.

Striker Replacement: Oppose legislation that would prohibit an employer from hiring permanent replacement workers for employees who walk off the job.

Unemployment Compensation: Oppose legislation that would liberalize UC benefits and/or increase employers’ federal UC tax costs. Support legislation to lower federal UC taxes by giving states the authority to collect and appropriate Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) revenues to operate their employment security agencies. Support legislation to allow small business owners to forgo paying UC taxes on themselves by electing to be excluded from unemployment benefits.

Workers Compensation: Support legislation to simplify the Medicare Secondary Payor Act with regard to settlements of WC claims. Oppose any legislative attempt to federalize state WC acts.

Contacts.

Patrick Robinson serves as Director of the Employee Relations Council. In this capacity, his responsibilities include labor issues, such as workers’ and unemployment compensation.

Patrick Robinson

Director, Employee Relations Council, Workers’ Compensation Task Force & Unemployment Compensation Task Force, LABI
(225) 215-6657
patrickr@labi.org

Trent Oubre

Chair, Employee Relations Council