New York newspapers have major legislative success
After a more than two-year battle, the New York News Publishers Association (NYNPA) and its members have succeeded in passing legislation to make it much easier to prove the independent contractor status of newspaper carriers under the state's unemployment, workers' compensation, and wage and hour laws.
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Department of Labor's overtime rule enjoined on a nationwide basis
On Nov. 22 the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide injunction, halting the planned Dec. 1 effective date of the U.S. Department of Labor's overtime rule.
MOREU.S. court blocks overtime expansion pay rule for 4 million
A federal court on Tuesday blocked implementation of a rule imposed by President Barack Obama's administration that would have made an estimated 4 million more higher-earning workers across the country eligible for overtime pay starting Dec. 1.
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Initial decision on overtime rule expected next week
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is expected to issue an initial ruling next Tuesday on the U.S. Department of Labor's Overtime Rule, scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1, 2016.
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A Republican president can reassert management rights
Donald Trump will have the ability to impact several key federal government agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and the U.S. Department of Labor.
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Update on litigation filed to stop the DOL overtime rule
Mike Zinser reports on two upcoming hearings on the overtime rule: one set for Nov. 16 and one on Nov. 28. One possible result is that the court could enjoin and halt the Dec. 1 implementation of the rule.
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Are you ready to move from manager to owner?
When you sign the back of a check you are a manager working for someone else who takes the risks, whereas if you become the owner you are accepting the risks of failure or success, but you will proudly be signing the front of your checks.
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Cribb, Greene & Cope Publisher Confidence Survey Fall 2016
Publishers who feel their profit will be up next year dropped to 41 percent compared with 48 percent in 2015 and 51 percent in 2014, according to the Fall 2016 Publisher Confidence Survey conducted by Cribb, Greene & Cope.
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Is there such a thing as 'too local'?
Local coverage is not just city hall. It includes school activities, social events, summer sports leagues, church services and events, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Civic Clubs – whatever is important and linked to your community ... your market. Get your editor to start thinking a little like a salesman – what would make someone want to read my column?
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Update on Congressional action to limit U.S. Department of Labor overtime rule
This writer previously reported on Representative Kurt Schrader's bill to phase in the overtime threshold over a four-year period. This legislation now has seven bipartisan co-sponsors and counting.
Senator Lamar Alexander (Republican-Tennessee) has introduced Senate Bill 3464, which also would gradually phase in the Department of Labor's overtime rule over five years, starting with a salary threshold increase to $35,984 on Dec. 1, 2016; the bill provides for salary threshold increases in 2018 and 2019, but no increase in 2017. The bill provides for the Department of Labor's $47,476 threshold to take effect on Dec. 1, 2020. Like the House bill, this legislation would also prohibit the automatic annual increases to the salary threshold dictated by the Department of Labor's Final Rule.
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NLRB independent contractor status update
The National Labor Relations Board has held that companies do not violate the National Labor Relations Act solely by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Bottom line: the decision to classify an individual as an independent contractor rather than an employee will not, by itself, subject an employer to liability under the National Labor Relations Act.
MoreDevelop a plan now to address Department of Labor's proposed overtime rule
The U.S. Department of Labor's rule to increase the salary threshold for the overtime exemption of executive, administrative and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act has not yet been finalized.
The March 7 proposed rule was open for comments for a 60-day period. The Department of Labor received more than 116,000 public comments. The Department of Labor sent its final draft of the rule to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 12. The text of the final rule has not been made public.
When the final rule is published with an effective date, many expect unions and worker advocates to mount legal challenges to the rule. Even though the final rule may be challenged, it would be wise to be developing a plan now to address this huge budgetary issue.
This column focuses on the standard salary threshold, which will have the most dramatic impact on your company, and offers an action plan to address the standard salary threshold increase.
MoreSNPA / Inland Merger: Looking ahead to preserving and promoting First Amendment values
As we celebrate joining together SNPA and Inland, it is worth at least a moment to honor the first principles of the newspaper industry that gave rise to both groups. And those, without a doubt, are freedom of the press and the parallel right to know and to distribute news.
Honoring those principles requires some reflection on the industry's singular role in building America's First Amendment foundation. And it is safe to say that SNPA's and Inland's member newspapers can fairly take credit for shaping the free speech and free press tradition of the republic like no other industry and, for that matter, like no other country on earth.
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