
Swap Agrawal is a student at Harvard Law School.
In this weekend’s news and commentary, the Biden administration’s 2023 budget proposal includes increased spending on the NLRB, EEOC, and DOL; new and increased penalties for employers who violate labor and employment laws; and a paid family and medical leave program.
On March 9, the Biden administration released its budget outline for fiscal year 2024. The $6.9 trillion proposal includes $1.7 trillion in discretionary federal spending and new taxes on the wealthy aimed at decreasing the federal deficit by $3 trillion. President Biden’s budget also includes additional spending on labor and employment. The proposal increases the NLRB’s budget to $376 million, which is a 25% increase from the $299 million authorized by Congress for this fiscal year. The current number is itself the first raise the agency received since 2014. In a statement, NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo said, “While the bump in our FY23 funding was essential in averting furloughs, the NLRB is still drastically underfunded.”
Furthermore, the budget also calls for $481 million for the EEOC, which is a 5.7% increase from the agency’s allocation for 2023. EEOC Chair Charlotte Burrows told Law360 last year that budget shortfalls were hampering the agency’s staffing levels. The proposal also increases the DOL’s budget by $1.5 billion to enable the agency “protect workers’ wages and benefits, combat exploitative child labor, address the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, and improve workplace health and safety.” This includes spending on DOL programs to support workers, such as a national, comprehensive paid leave program administered by SSA which would provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons for up to three months.
Lastly, the proposal revives part of the Build Back Better Act which seeks to expand penalties for employers who violate DOL, EEOC, or NLRB rules. The budget summary states that “[e]mployers often receive only a slap on the wrist— at most—when they fire or retaliate against workers for exercising their right to organize and collectively bargain, steal wages from workers, force workers to work in unsafe conditions, exploit children, or otherwise flagrantly violate the Nation’s labor laws.” Therefore, the White House is proposing “instituting and meaningfully increasing penalties at DOL, EEOC, and NLRB for employers that violate workplace safety, health, wage and hour, child labor, equal opportunity, and labor organizing rules.” The White House stated in its summary that the increase will “help level the playing field for workers, protecting their right to fair representation and better working conditions.” However, President Biden’s budget, including the labor and employment provisions, are unlikely to pass in a divided Congress. Republican House members will soon respond with their own proposal.
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March 24
Duke opposing unionizing grad student workers; NLRB prosecutors find merit to ULPs against Amazon; Starbucks investors weighing outside audit of company's labor practices.
March 23
Trader Joe's workers in Oakland file a petition to form a union; a Kenyan court temporarily blocks Meta contractor’s mass layoff of content moderators; and Starbucks workers at more than 100 stores walkout ahead of shareholders’ meeting.
March 22
NLRB's General Counsel issues two memos clarifying priorities and a recent Board decision, LA teachers go on strike, and Bloomberg Law reports higher pay raises from labor contracts
March 20
Residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham hospitals prepare to unionize; divisions in the New York Times NewsGuild union deepens as contract negotiations remain ongoing; the six-month Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike turned violent on Saturday; Los Angeles schools prepare to close this week as workers plan to strike
March 19
Ninth Circuit reinstates Uber's Equal Protection challenge to California's AB5; reduction in SNAP benefits could lead to "hunger cliff" for low-wage workers; Amazon workers start unionizing campaign at Kentucky facility; ex-Google employees ask company to honor parental leave.
March 17
Texas committee considers sweeping legislation limiting municipal power; University of Chicago graduate students unionize; Tennessee Nissan technicians reject a unionizing effort; and protestors in France take to the streets after President Macron activates nuclear option to raise retirement age.