Today’s News & Commentary — June 17, 2016

The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) issued an update to their anti-sex-discrimination rules.  These rules apply only to federal contractors.  Some of the updates, which clarify that the sex discrimination prohibition includes as forbidden adverse treatment based on gender stereotypes and adverse treatment based on an individual’s gender identity, can be found here.  The full text of the final rule can be found here.

Macy’s and the Retail, Wholesale, & Department Store union, which represents thousands of Macy’s workers in the New York City area, reached a tentative new four-year labor contract on Thursday.  Preparations to strike were underway on Wednesday before union leaders and Macy’s representatives arrived at an overnight agreement.  Concerns for workers included high healthcare costs and the Macy’s commission system, under which currently employees could face reduced paychecks when customers return previously bought items.

The editorial board of the New York Times wrote an op-ed claiming that there is now “no doubt” H-1B visas are being used by companies to substitute American workers with cheap foreign laborers.  The New York Times cites Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois-based healthcare conglomerate that recently laid off about 150 tech workers to substitute them H-1B visa holders, as evidence of this trend.  A group of fourteen such tech workers have filed claims with the EEOC, claiming discrimination on the basis of their American citizenship.  This adds to the mounting criticism of the H-1B visa program, which presidential candidate Donald Trump has criticized and occasionally suggested abolishing.