The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has certainly stirred up emotions and led to buzz across workplaces across the nation and around the world. While no one can say for certain what the next four years will bring, there will likely be some big changes – many of which will impact HR.
According to the things the president elect has said while on the campaign trail, the following are some areas where human resources professionals can expect to see modifications to existing laws and current policies.
ACA Could Change Dramatically
Trump has repeatedly said that he would repeal “Obamacare” or the Affordable Care Act. While the details of this “repeal” are shaky as of yet, Trump has expressed disdain for healthcare being mandatory and for limitations restricting insurance companies from operating across state lines. To be optimistic, this could ease reporting requirements and make it possible to offer employees more insurance options.
May Reverse the New Overtime Rule
The new DOL overtime rule takes effect on December first, so it will have already been in effect for a little while before Trump takes over the White House. Trump will not likely attack the new law, but his partiality towards deregulation may leave it up to individual states to decide whether to keep the law in place. Depending on workplace preferences and policies, this could cause some salary shifts.
Less Focus on Minimum Wage Raises
Minimum wage has been a matter of some debate in recent years, with many protesters calling for a raise of the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. At this time, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 and has been since July 2009, though state minimums mandate a higher wage in many states. Trump has not expressed support for federal minimum wage raises, so there is likely to be less focus on increases.
Greater Number of Tax Breaks
Instead of raising minimum wage, Trump has expressed that he believes tax breaks would work better because they will benefit workers without harming employers. While all of the tax breaks Trump plans to set into motion have not yet been detailed, he has said that health insurance premiums would be made tax deductible. Child care costs may also be made tax deductible.
Maternity Leave May Become Mandatory
With encouragement from his daughter Ivanka, Trump has said that he plans to enforce a mandatory six week paid maternity leave. This could make it necessary to overhaul existing leave policies at many workplaces. At this point, there has been no mention of this leave being made mandatory for fathers, though states and individual workplaces would be free to structure their policies to include fathers.
Hiring Freeze on Federal Employees
Trump has expressed his desire to implement an immediate hiring freeze for federal employees, with the exception of military, public health, and public safety, to try to clean up corruption. After the immediate hiring freeze, Trump has said he plans to reduce the number of federal workers by hiring fewer employees as older employees retire.
While HR professionals are not likely to be left scrambling to make changes overnight after Trump takes office, deadlines for these types of modifications could be released as early as January. Trump has ambitious plans and many of these changes were outlined in his “first 100 days action plan.”
