White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Jan. 20 issued a memorandum to all federal departments and agencies delaying implementation of many recently-finalized regulations scheduled to go into effect early this year, including rules stipulating how unions disclose finances and mandating how federal contractors verify workers’ employment eligibility.
According to the memo, “all proposed or final regulations that have not been published” should be delayed 60 days so they can be “reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the president.” The memo also extends the amount of time the public will have to comment on any of the affected rulemakings.
As a result of the memo, federal contractors will not have to begin using the Employment Eligibility Verification (E-Verify) system to verify all new and many existing employees until at least May 21. The rule had already been pushed back from Jan. 15 to Feb. 20, due to pending litigation. In addition, employers will not have to start using the updated Employment Eligibility Verification Form, also known as Form I-9, until at least April 3.
The White House directive also delays implementation until at least April 21 of a rule that would revise the current LM-2 financial disclosure form for larger unions and establish a procedure to revoke the LM-3 forms filed by smaller unions in instances where filers submit delinquent or erroneous reports. ABC strongly supported the rule, emphasizing “the importance and benefits of financial transparency,” and noting that the provisions would “lead to better administration and enforcement of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.”
E-Verify DelayI-9 DelayLM-2 Delay