NN&V Exclusive
(Robert R. Kessler) – Let’s see if I have this straight. Under the Federal Government’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN Act), employers with 100 or more employees are required to give 60 calendar day advance notification of mass layoffs. With sequestration of Federal funds looming, that means large defense contractors are facing exactly that possibility. But the Obama Administration’s Labor Department has said such advance notices would be “inappropriate.” Obviously because the required notices will be issued just a few days before the November election. So much for employee protection.
Because some contractors are balking, Obama’s Office of Management and Budget has now issued guidance that says that contractors who follow Labor’s suggestion to disobey the law will be protected against employee compensation costs. But contractors who DO obey the law will NOT be protected. Read that again, carefully.
Obama’s overt coercion puts contractors in a bind. Obviously there is the legal and ethical question of whether or not to follow the law. But there’s also the practical question of a company’s business future and bottom line. Any company that ignores the Obama diktat has to be prepared for retribution if Obama wins re-election. Their bottom line – and their shareholders – will be penalized.
Doesn’t this sound a lot like totalitarianism?
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