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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2007 Edition
Presents a first approach to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), summarizing
the basic legislation, demonstrating how the rules apply to particular
employment situations, and exploring practical aspects of employment arrangements
in light of the federal wage and hour law.
On April 24, 2008, the US Senate passed, by a vote of 95-0, a bill designed to protect personal genetic information from misuse by employers and insurance companies. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) (H.R. 493 as Amended) would prohibit employers from using individuals' genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement or promotion decisions. It would make it illegal for group health plans and health insurers to deny coverage to healthy individuals or charge them higher premiums based solely on a genetic predisposition to a disease. The purpose of the bill is to encourage Americans to take advantage of genetic testing without fear of discrimination. The House passed the bill (H.R. 493) by a 420-3 vote on April 25, 2007. In light of the Senate's continued failure to vote on the bill, the House attached the provisions of GINA to a mental health parity bill (H.R. 1424), which was approved March 5, 2008 on a 268-148 vote.
The bill came to a vote on the Senate floor after a compromise was reached as to objections to the bill voiced by a group of 11 Republican senators led by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). Among other things, the Republican senators asserted that the bill would have imposed excessive new mandates on employers and resulted in higher insurance costs.
In a joint statement issued on April 24, 2008, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Mike Enzi (R-WY), Ranking Member of the HELP Committee, Olympia Snowe (D-ME), commented, "This legislation will prohibit genetic discrimination by health insurers and employers. The house is expected to take up identical language in the very near future."
In a March 5, 2008 statement, the Bush Administration confirmed that it "strongly supports" legislation to prevent the misuse of an individual's personal genetic information, but expressed concerns similar to those voiced by the group of 11 Republican senators. At press time, the President had not yet issued a statement on the Senate's passage of the bill.
Five senators, including presidential candidates John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL), did not vote on the bill.
For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.
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