Labor

Today marks the anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first piece of legislation that President Obama signed when he took office. Seven years later, however, equal pay has still not been achieved. Last year, women who worked fulltime earn just 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. African-American and Hispanic women earn 60 and 50 cents, respectively, per every dollar earned by white men.

Today, the Department of Labor issued a final rule strengthening outdated rules for determining workers' overtime eligibility. Under the new rule, most salaried, white-collar workers who earn less than $47,476 a year, or $913 a week, will be entitled to time-and-a-half pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a week.

Today the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing titled "Promoting Safe Workplaces Through Effective and Responsible Recordkeeping Standards" to examine OSHA's recordkeeping and anti-retaliation rule issued by Department of Labor on May 12, 2016.

Since January 1, 2015, OSHA has required employers to report within 24 hours any work-related amputations, in-patient hospitalizations, or loss of eye, in addition to an already existing requirement to report fatalities within eight hours.