Overnight Regulation: Feds finalize rule expanding sick leave

by Lydia Wheeler - 09/29/16 4:42 PM ET

Welcome to Overnight Regulation, your daily rundown of news from the Capitol Hill and beyond. It’s Thursday evening here in Washington and I’m giggling at that picture of Grumpy cat in front of the White House. In case you missed it: http://bit.ly/2duXRZf

And here’s the latest…

THE BIG STORY

The Obama administration on Thursday finalized a rule that will expand paid sick leave to 1.15 million people working on federal contracts.

The Department of Labor rule is a byproduct from an executive order President Obama signed in September 2015. The order allows workers on a covered federal contract to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, for up to 56 hours of paid leave per year.

{mosads}Under the rule, workers can use that time off for their own illness, preventative care or to care for a family member or loved one.

The direct cost for employers increased slightly from the rule proposed in February, from $18.4 million to $27.3 million per year for the first 10 years.

In a call with reporters, Labor Secretary Tom Perez said the cost went up because the agency found in its analysis that the rule would impact more workers. The agency originally thought only about 828,200 employees would receive additional paid sick leave within the first five years.

“As we looked at the lay of the land, we saw there is a larger universe of workers, some of whom have sick leave benefits now, but are less than 60 hours,” he said.

“That’s what notice and comment is all about and I’m proud of the fact we’re up to 1.15 million workers directly impacted.”

In addition to the final labor rule, which Perez announced Thursday with representatives from the White House, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a final rule requiring employers with 100 or more employees to report pay data.

The EEOC said businesses have long used the EEO-1 form to report demographic information on their workforces. The final rule revises that form to require information on the range of compensation paid to employees of different demographic groups.

The commission plans to use the information to identify discriminatory pay practices.

To give employers more time to comply with the new reporting rules, the EEOC extended the deadline from the initial proposal by six months, giving employers until March 31, 2018 to submit pay data for 2017. The revision does not impact the 2016 EEO-1 report, which is due on September 30. http://bit.ly/2deuKtO

TOMORROW’S REGS TODAY

The Obama administration will publish 284 new proposed rules, notices and other administrative actions in Friday’s edition of the Federal Register.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized new requirements that nursing homes must meet to participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

The final rules include a provision that prohibits facilities from using forced arbitration clauses in resident contracts. The language, often slipped into the fine print, forces residents to settle disputes privately with an arbitrator rather than through the courts.

The rule will take effect Nov. 28. http://bit.ly/2dE5tfp

The Energy Department is giving the public more time to comment on its proposed energy conservation standards for household stoves. The agency is now accepting public comments, originally due Oct. 3, through Nov. 2. http://bit.ly/2ddlMP1

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will release a final rule to allow animal food producers to use safe amounts of sodium formate to lower the pH of pig feed.

The rule will take effect immediately. http://bit.ly/2dobtbf

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House votes to delay Obama’s overtime rule http://bit.ly/2dds94U

Salesforce raises Microsoft-LinkedIn antitrust concerns with EU http://bit.ly/2dohc17

European antitrust chief says user data could be factor in merger reviews http://bit.ly/2d9p4C3

Feds subpoena Chesapeake Energy over accounting practices http://bit.ly/2ddrH6W

Lawmakers suggest Wells Fargo chief should face criminal charges http://bit.ly/2dds0yf