The following is a summary of the employment- and labor-related legislative and regulatory news for the weeks of July 5 and July 12, 2009:

Agency Changes

Obama announced his intent to nominate Jacqueline Berrien as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Brian Hayes was nominated to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). His nomination – along with those of the other two NLRB nominees – were sent to the Senate for consideration.

The Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration (ESA) will be abolished, and the leaders of the four sub-agencies within the ESA will report directly to the Secretary of Labor.

EFCA

Democratic senators may be dropping the “card check” provision in EFCA in order to gain support for its passage.

Health Care

House Democrats formally unveiled their 1,018-page healthcare overhaul bill, which the House Committees on Ways and Means and Education and Labor passed on July 17.  Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted to approve the Senate healthcare package.

In other health care news, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) introduced the Small Business Health Care Affordability Act of 2009, a bill that would provide small businesses and their employees with tax credits for health insurance coverage.

Immigration

The Senate voted to accept amendments to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) appropriations bill that would prevent the DHS from revoking its “No-Match” rule, and make E-Verify and the EB-5 visa programs permanent.

Labor-Management Relations

Proposed regulations implementing Obama’s Executive Order promoting the use of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) were published in the Federal Register. Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to government agencies encouraging the use of PLAs until a final rule is implemented.

Work/Family Balance

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) introduced the Balancing Act of 2009, a comprehensive working family bill that incorporates a number of previously-introduced family and medical leave legislation.

Rep. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Military Family Leave Act of 2009, a bill that would grant family members of uniformed service members temporary annual leave for the member’s deployment.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Airline Flight Crew Technical Corrections Act, a bill that would change FMLA hours of service requirements for airline employees.