Did the groundhog see his shadow?

02/02/2016 |

Did the groundhog see his shadow?

Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil Did Not See His Shadow

Updated February 2, 20169:01 AM ET Published February 2, 20167:25 AM ET

Bill Chappell

Twitter

A screengrab of a video by the tourism website of the state of Pennsylvania shows the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil being watched for signs of his shadow.i

A screengrab of a video by the tourism website of the state of Pennsylvania shows the groundhog Punxsutawney Phil being watched for signs of his shadow. Screengrab by NPR

 

A crowd gathered at Gobbler’s Knob early this morning, awaiting the emergence of the groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. After a tap of a cane on Phil’s tree-trunk cage, his door was opened, and the animal emerged.

He was held aloft to cheers and applause. Phil did not respond, other than to blink. Placed on top of the trunk, he attempted to flee before his actions were closely analyzed.

Interpreting Phil’s behavior, the Groundhog Club emcee proclaimed, “There is no shadow to be cast! An early spring is my forecast!”

He added, “Take your jackets off, you’re not going to need them!”

Few in the crowd followed that advice; the temperature this morning in Punxsutawney, Pa., was reported at 22 degrees.

The findings were independently verified by a groundhog in Canada, where Shubenacadie Sam also saw no shadow.

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Seven Employment Law Trends to keep your eyes on for 2016

01/21/2016 |

Seven employment law trends to keep your eyes on for 2016

Blog Employer Law Report

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP

USA January 20 2016

2016 has arrived, marking the beginning of a year of political transition. While we cannot be certain what the upcoming Presidential election holds for 2017, we can expect to see at least seven employment law trends as we move through this year.

1. Increase in Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) initiatives and enforcement

The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed changes to the thresholds for exempt status, which will increase the number of employees eligible for minimum wage and overtime payments. In addition, technology advances in the workplace are likely to collide with wage and hour laws with the increased use of smartphones and tablet devices by non-exempt employees and the rise of the sharing economy through businesses such as Uber, AirBnB, etc. Finally, the election year likely will bring with it even more emphasis on laws forcing employers to increase the minimum wage and provide for equal pay and paid family/sick leave on a federal, state and local level.

2. Expansion of the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) efforts to increase unionization

2016 will give us the first full year operating under the NLRB’s new speedy election rules, which so far have served unionization well. In addition, in its last year under the Obama administration, we should expect to see other pro-union decisions and initiatives from the NLRB, including the Board’s efforts at increasing the likelihood of joint employer findings and its onslaught against non-union employment policies.

3. Expansion of Equal Employment Opportunity laws to include LGBT protections

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been pushing an agenda to bring LGBT non-discrimination rights up to the level of other protected classes and this should continue in 2016. Expect state and local laws to begin doing the same.

4. Increased focus on employee privacy protection.

Data breaches occurring in recent years have put the spotlight not only on businesses’ protection of their customer data, but also their own employees. In addition to class action litigation being brought, with increasing success, by victims of data breaches, the Federal Trade Commission has begun enforcing its authority over unfair and deceptive trade practices to regulate in the data privacy/security space.

5.  Employer reliance on wellness programs

As health care costs continue to rise, employers have turned to wellness programs to keep a lid on those costs. Here is another place where technology is creating opportunities and issues as employer wellness programs rely more on smartphone apps and wearable devices to spur on improvements in their workforce health. The EEOC also is weighing in as it relates to the incentives that can be offered to employees for participating to ensure that participation is truly voluntary.

6.  Ban the Box.

Expect the Ban the Box movement, which seeks to prevent employers from asking job candidates about prior criminal convictions on their employment application, to gain additional traction throughout the year.

7. Immigration

Expect the 2016 elections to shine a light on federal immigration policy. Though the election year almost certainly won’t be conducive to any immigration legislation, it could provide whoever wins election with enough political capital to push his or her policy through Congress beginning in 2017.

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP – Brian D. Hall
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Fed’s Mester prefers a bit quicker U.S. rate-hike pace

01/06/2016 |

Fed’s Mester prefers a bit quicker U.S. rate-hike pace

Markets  |  Sun Jan 3, 2016 10:36pm EST

SAN FRANCISCO  |  By Jonathan Spicer and Ann Saphir
Reuters/Lucas Jackson

One of the Federal Reserve’s hawkish officials said on Sunday that while she prefers a slightly more aggressive approach, she is not opposed to her colleagues’ view that the U.S. central bank needs to raise interest rates only four times this year.

Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Fed, told Reuters in an interview she does not need to see clear evidence of inflation to back more policy tightening after an initial rate hike in mid-December. The Fed could act at any policy meeting, including one later in January, she said.

After lifting rates for the first time in nearly a decade, the Fed said further moves would be gradual and dependent on how the world’s top economy performs. The central bank last month forecasted four rate hikes in 2016, based on the median projection of its 17 top officials.

“I’m pretty comfortable with the median path … I think that’s not a bad description,” Mester, who votes on U.S. monetary policy this year under a rotation, said on the sidelines of an American Economic Association meeting.

“I’m probably a little steeper than that in the near term, just because I have a higher growth forecast.”

Mester expects the U.S. economy to grow at a 2.5 percent to 2.75 percent pace this year, slightly stronger than the 2.4-percent rate median forecast of her colleagues. That optimism allows her to view more than four rate hikes as appropriate, she said.

The comments from Mester, one of 10 voters on policy, suggests that while she leans toward marginally tighter policy than Chair Janet Yellen and others at the Fed, she may not be compelled to dissent.

“I think it’s reasonable to move on a gradual path, and I’m going to look at the data that comes in between now and the next meeting,” she said.

Last month’s rate hike from near zero was much anticipated but could yet upset world financial markets as the Fed weighs when to make another move. Traders in futures markets are predicting only two or three hikes this year.

Like most Fed officials, Mester, who has run the Cleveland Fed for a year and a half, expects inflation to rebound as the effects of weak oil prices and the strong dollar wane.

“I don’t see anything in the data that has changed the dynamics of inflation,” she told Reuters.

Evidence of inflation is not necessary for her to back another rate hike as long as her forecasts hold, Mester said. “Right now my forecast is that we will gradually see inflation move back up to 2 percent.”

The Fed’s target for inflation, which has been below target for years, is also 2 percent.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Dan Grebler)

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