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This Super Tuesday 2008 was possibly the most important day in the election year because it had the largest amount of states voting in the primaries. More than twenty states have voted and one of our presidential nominees will soon be sitting in the White House. That being said, how will our presidential nominees affect Human Resource professionals and employees in the United States for the next four years?
Changes in HR matters such as employee wages, employment law, health-care, Social Security, and employee benefits are big topics for candidates and that means there will be big changes for U.S. employers in the near future. Since this years primaries have been especially competitive, both Democrats and Republicans have been focusing narrowly on issues that concern their primary voting group. And with Americas growing concerns about issues like health care and Social Security, experts have predicted that this may affect voters choices in selecting a candidate.
Illinois State Senator, Barack Obama, is one of the current leading Democratic candidates in this 2008 presidential election. Obamas views on Social Security, pension plans, health care, and employee laws will definitely be challenging to most employers in the future because of the changes that will follow shortly after elected into office
If Obama had a lot of big changes for employers, Hillary Clinton is not far behind. New York State Senator, Hillary Clinton currently serves on the Health, labor and Pensions Committee and also, the Special Committee on Ageing in Congress. Of all the candidates Clinton is most interested on issues concerning U.S. employee work/life balance and has supported a multitude of employee policies that are extremely different from the traditional employee laws that stand today. Minimum wage and Social Security have also become big issues for Clinton because of recent legislature she is hoping to pass through Congress.
As for the Republican candidates this year, it is especially obvious that John McCain is not particularly known for his experience on labor issues such as Social Security, employee pensions, and Healthcare. Because of his past experience and knowledge in foreign policy, McCain has chosen to take a back seat on issues that would affect the U.S. workforce dramatically in his presidency. However, McCain does support immigration reforms allowing willing employers & employees to connect, which would definitely change employment laws for HR.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is know for his strong support for privatizing Social Security and has addressed his plans to restructure the U.S. healthcare system without making it mandatory for employer participation. Like many Republicans, Huckabee supports privatizing the current Social Security system with personal accounts, which would allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts which they would manage themselves.
As a Human Resource professional, you should be aware of where each candidate stands on these issues. Below is a brief overview of the changes that will be in store for employers during the next four years according to each presidential nominee and what it means for Human Resource departments everywhere.
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Barack Obama |
Hillary Clinton |
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| Social
Security
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Opposes Privatization
Supports raising the earnings cap on Social Security, which is currently $102,000
Supports increasing the maximum amount of earnings covered by Social Security
Plans include a tax increase for small businesses
Intends to initiate a payroll tax to keep Social Security payroll tax reform package that will keep Social Security capable of meeting financial obligations for the next 100 years
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Opposes Privatization
Opposes raising the earnings cap on Social Security
Proposes a federal match of up to $1,000 per person to help people set up 401(k) plans in program costing $25 billion a year, to be paid for by freezing the estate tax at 2009 levels
o Federal match would only apply to those making $60,000 a year or less and only if they also contribute $1,000 of their own to their 401(k) plans
o That then than applies a matching refundable tax credit for the first $1,000 of savings in a 401(k) done by every married couple making up to $60,000
o The plan will provide a 50% match on the first $1000 of savings for every couple making between $60,000 and $100,000, which will be phased out after that
o Funds may be placed in an existing 401(k) or a new American Retirement Account, made available for those who either don't have a 401(k) through their employers or like the government-offered plan better
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| Employee
Pensions
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Creating automatic workplace pension plans and all employeers who do not already offer a retirement plan will be required to enroll employees in a direct deposit IRA.
Employees may decline pension plan
Supports amending bankruptcy laws to prevent companies from avoiding pension obligations by:
o Putting greater importance on promises to workers as debts that companies cannot shed
o Creating laws to prevent cutting workers pensions while issuing executive bonuses
o Increasing the amount of unpaid wages and benefits workers can claim in court
o Limiting the circumstances under which retiree benefits can be reduced
o Annual detailed pension disclosers for employees to make pension funds more secure
Plans on creating savings incentives for all workers by matching low and middle income Americans. The savings match will be automatically deposited into designated personal accounts
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Supports the American Retirement Accounts plan which:
o Provides universal access to a generous 401(k) for all Americans with generous matching tax cuts of up to $500 and $1000
o Encourages employers to allow no-hassle, direct deposit enrollment into American Retirement Accounts
o Reduces disincentives to saving by removing asset-tests for moderate income families to contribute to American Retirement Accounts
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| Employee
Wages
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Strongly supports employers to cover a significant portion of the health care costs of their employees
Proposes to initiate universal health legislation by the end of his first term in office
o Employers will be required to share the cost of health insurance coverage
o Employers that do not offer or make a meaningful contribution to the cost of quality health coverage for their employees will be required to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the costs of the national plan. Small employers that meet certain revenue thresholds will be exempt.
o Reducing the cost of illness by reimbursing employer health plans for a portion of the large costs they incur above a threshold if they guarantee such savings are used to reduce the cost of workers' premiums
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Strongly supports universal health care which provides access to health care regardless of ability to pay
Plans to initiate American Health Choices Plan, which is the same Health Plan members of Congress receive, covering all Americans
o Americans may keep their existing coverage or access the same menu of quality private insurance options that their Members of Congress receive through a new Health Choices Menu as part of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program
o Employers will contribute to financing the system:
§ Large employers will be expected to provide health insurance or contribute to the cost of coverage
§ Small businesses will receive a tax credit to continue or begin to offer coverage.
Supports distributing tax credits to small businesses that provide health care to their workers to help defray their coverage costs
Supports amending the Employer Tax Exclusion to limit the exclusion for the high-end portion of plans for those making over $250,000. The plan will protect the current exclusion from taxes of employer-provided health premiums
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| Labor Relations |
Supports legislation restricting employers from interfering with union votes
Supports the Employee Free Choice Act
The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), was created to restore an employees freedom to choose a union by:
o Initiating penalties for violation of employee rights when workers seek to form a union and during first-contract negotiations
o Providing mediation and arbitration for first-contract disputes
o Allowing employees to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation
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Supports legislation restricting employers from interfering with union votes
Sponsors the Employee Free Choice Act
Plans to appoint pro-labor board members to the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board
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| Employee Discrimination Laws |
Plans on strengthening the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and empowering the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to prevent all forms of discrimination
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Supports adding sexual orientation to employment discrimination laws, making discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in any aspect of employment illegal
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| Immigration |
Supports mandating that employers verify immigration status
Supports a temporary guest worker program
Proposed to create a new employment eligibility verication sysytem so emloyers can verify that their employees are legally eligible to work in the U.S.
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Supports mandating that employers verify immigration status
Opposes a temporary guest worker program
Supports immigration reform which allows for workplace enforcement, including an electronic employment verification system
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| Other Employment Laws |
Opposes changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would allow employers to use compensatory time off as a substitute for overtime for employees who work over 40 hours a week.
Supports the proposed Healthy Families Act, which would require seven days of paid sick leave.
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Plans to expand the coverage of the Family and Medical Leave Act by lowering the number of employees an employer must have to be covered by the FMLA from 50 to 25.
Endorses a plan that would result in paid family leave funded by both the state and federal governments
Supports using unemployment insurance to provide paid paternity and maternity leave
Sponsors the Healthy Families Act
Plans to establish a public-private partnership program on model workplaces at the Department of Labor to promote businesses that establish innovative workplace flexibility programs by providing federal grants to those businesses
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John McCain |
Mike Huckabee |
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| Social
Security
AND
Pensions
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Neutral on raising the earnings cap on Social Security, which is currently $102,000
Supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts
o Allows workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts which they would manage themselves.
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Supports privatizing social security through personal Social Security accounts
Higher benefits for people who delay retirement past 70
Give retirees option of declining their benefits, and instead have Social Security issue a lump sum payment at their death, payable to their children or grandchildren
Would offer some private investment options in Social Security and give beneficiaries the option of a one-time lump-sum payment they could invest, instead of guaranteed monthly payments for life.
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| Employee
Wages
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Opposes an increase in the federal minimum wage
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Neutral on an increase in the federal minimum wage
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| Health Care |
Opposes federally mandated universal health care
Opposes requiring American employers to cover a significant portion of the health care costs of their employees.
Supports tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage
o $2,500 refundable tax credit for individuals, $5,000 for families
o In gaining the tax credit, workers cannot not deduct the portion of their workplace health insurance paid by their employers
Supports open health care markets by allowing providers to practice nationwide, rather than restricting them regionally, allowing the purchase of health insurance across state lines
Encourages small businesses to band together to negotiate lower rates with health care providers
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Opposes universal health care which provides access to health care regardless of ability to pay
Opposes requiring American employers to cover a significant portion of the health care costs of their employees.
Favors market solutions for prevention and research
Supports addressing the healthcare shortage primarily through providing tax deductions and incentives for the uninsured to purchase private health insurance.
Opposes requiring American employers to cover a significant portion of the health care costs of their employees.
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| Labor Relations |
Opposes legislation restricting employers from interfering with union votes
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Neutral on legislation restricting employers from interfering with union votes
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| Employee Discrimination Laws |
Opposes a federal non-discrimination law that would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
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Opposes a federal non-discrimination law that would outlaw job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
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| Immigration |
Strongly supports mandating that employers check their workers' immigration status
Supports immigration reform and legislature allowing willing employers & employees to connect
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Supports a temporary guest worker program
Supports mandating that employers check their workers' immigration status
Sponsors Secure America Plan to institute a universal, mandatory citizenship verification system as part of the normal hiring process
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| Other Employment Laws |
Plans to establish a permanent tax credit for employers for research and development
Supports cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%, letting companies expense investments in equipment and technology in year of purchase instead of spread out.
Supports a reduction of government regulation of the private sector in order to encourage investment and economic expansion.
Supports tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child care services to employees.
Encourages employers to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
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Fair Tax Plan:
Eliminates all federal income and payroll taxes, including personal, corporate, gift, estate, capital gains, Social Security and Medicare, and shut down the Internal Revenue Service.
Promises to make American products more competitive because prices would not be increased to cover taxes and compliance costs.
Promises to encourage growth by promoting investment and capital formation.
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Information on the Candidate Chart was taken from the following websites:
http://www.barackobama.com
http://www.hillaryclinton.com
http://www.johnmccain.com
http://www.explorehuckabee.com
Wonder what your fellow readers think about critical HR topics? Is your organization unique from or similar to others?
Click here to view the results of our past polls!
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ISSN Number 1549-0467
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