Unemoployment Insurance
The Employment and Training Administration delivered a long awaited regulation that would allow states to drug test unemployment insurance recipients.
The new regulation will take effect as soon as next month.
It is not the first time this regulation has been developed. This time, unlike others, states will be allowed to justify the circumstances for drug testing.
States will not be able to begin testing until they have submitted paperwork and have their plans approved by ETA officials.
John Pallasch, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, stated ‘’This rule lays out…that states can…meet under the facts of their specific economies and practices.’’
Read more about the new regulation here.
Workforce Development
A new resource for understanding workforce development systems was released by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.
On September 12th, NASWA released its inaugural State of the Workforce Report. The state-by-state factbook presents how workforce development programs are managed, labor market information about states and innovations put forth by state officials.
States will have access to key labor market information and how their workforce is structured.
Read the State of the Workforce Report here.
Final Overtime Rule
1.3 million Americans are now eligible for overtime pay.
The news comes after the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The new thresholds will account for growth in employee salaries since the thresholds were last set in 2004. The final rule will be effective January 1, 2020.
Special salaries were revised for workers in U.S. territories and the motion picture industries.
More information about the final rule is available here.