Reacting to the Proposed Reversal of Regulations Affecting Human Resources and Safety Can Be Tricky

by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.

Political winds frequently change direction, sometimes leading to calls to create or unwind existing labor and safety regulations. Enacting and implementing changes to company policies, and disseminating changes to the troops, in response takes more thoughtfulness and planning. Regulations and laws that have evolved over time as the result of events that set them in motion usually have some fundamental rationale that everyone can agree with, or they would have been badly battered during public hearings and public review. The disagreement usually revolves around scope, impact of the law on the non-offenders, and ideological divides.

Congressional changes to labor laws or presidential executive orders usually do not take effect overnight. It may take years for a bill to clear the House and Senate for the president’s signature and/or for the affected agency to make the transition. There will be many impacted groups waiting to litigate the change and the court process can take years with appeals to higher courts. If shot down in whole or in part, then it will be remanded to the lower court to find a legal solution, before potentially starting another series of legislative activities.

While all this is going on, political tides that brought in the change may begin to turn back. Often one political party or the other overreaches, or misreads their constituents and acts against their voter’s interests. The make-up of Congress and or the presidency in the next election may push the pendulum back.

A good strategy for employers during days like this is to try to learn as much as possible about the proposed changes. No matter if industry groups are behind the successful push for changes in laws and regulations, this does not mean the changes will survive. So, it is a good idea to remain pragmatic and realistic during these times. Try to project how the change will be received by your customers and by employees in your organization. Then weigh the benefits of making policy revisions to incorporate the regulatory changes versus the costs of the policy changes – including financial costs, costs to morale (if any) and the costs if these government changes are later reversed and the company has to reverse its policies to match.

Some other considerations are:

1) If the change is unpopular, would there be a risk of alienating employees or customers if the company embraces and incorporates the change? What is the estimated cost of that? How hard would it be and how long would it take to revert back if the cost of the backlash becomes too high?

2) What is the chance that any change to a popular law or executive order, that came into being after years of public advocacy and still has a significant supporter base, may not survive if the public raises its voices?

Even if Congress changes a regulation, or a government agency changes its stand on enforcement of existing laws and regulations, if perceived as too extreme by citizens or workers the change may not last long. When it comes to safety laws and regulations, this becomes particularly tricky since the employer is ultimately responsible for the interpretation of the law and any efforts to abide, or not, by it. It is the murky gray areas that pose the risk. At one moment a case can be viewed as in compliance, the next it could be viewed as willful negligence.

The next couple of years will be challenging with regard to the clamor for/against the current president’s and majority party’s agendas. Some things will be changed, some things will be changed but by not so much, some changes will be headed-off before they gain traction and some will be challenged in court. And with another election in 2018 that can change the make-up of the House and possibly the Senate, followed by another in 2020, everything gained by one party may be rolled back by the other.

Go slow, think it through, and make decisions in the best interest of your company, your employees and customers. If you see opportunity is embracing the change, do so with eyes wide open and a “roll-back strategy” in place and the transition(s) might be smoother and less costly.