Reposted from the Labor & Employment Law Navigator Blog - Click Here to Subscribe
Ten months after his election, President Trump has sent nominations to the Senate for a number of key positions, including four with significant importance in the employment area. David Zatezalo, the former Chief Executive Officer of coal mining company, Rhino Resources, is the nominee for the position of Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. In that role, he will manage the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which regulates safety and health in all types of mines in the US. He has extensive background as an underground coal miner and a coal executive, but no previous government experience. Mr. Zatezalo has criticized the Obama Administration’s approach to mine safety as being disconnected from working America. Since Rhino Resources had been cited by MSHA for violations, that history will likely be raised in Mr. Zatezelo’s confirmation hearings. Not surprisingly, the mining industry was supportive of the pick, expecting that it will herald an era of more cooperative and effective safety regulation, as contrasted with the punitive approach of the most recent administration, while labor interests have a more skeptical attitude. For more information, click here.
President Trump nominated Cheryl Stanton as Wage and Hour Administrator. If confirmed, she will head the Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division. This part of the DOL has responsibility for, among other things, overtime and minimum wage enforcement. A significant portion of this relates to the issue of whether workers are employees or independent contractors. Ms. Stanton is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, and had worked in the George W. Bush White House as its liaison to the DOL, NLRB and EEOC. She practiced law with a management-side law firm before working for South Carolina.
A third DOL nominee is Katherine McGuire to serve as the DOL’s Assistant Secretary of Labor for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. She is a veteran congressional aide, having worked for Sen. Mike Enzi and most recently for Rep. Randy Holtgren, and also spent several years in government relations with the Business Software Alliance. In her new role, she will support Secretary of Labor Acosta’s agenda in Congress and with state and local governments.
The fourth nomination may set a new tone for the federal government’s employment policy. The President has nominated the current Chief Human Resources and Strategy Officer at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to head the Office of Personnel Management. Jeff Tien Han Pon has experience with Booz Allen Hamilton as a consultant and has worked in the Federal Government as the Department of Energy’s Chief Human Capital Officer. Federal employment practices have come under increasing scrutiny as being outmoded, overly costly and impervious to improvements, so Mr. Pon’s position has the potential to be extremely important. He is the second nominee for the position. The first withdrew from consideration after the Senate received a letter of opposition from a coalition of federal employee unions. The new nominee is unlikely to be deterred by opposition from the unions that are benefitting from the current system.