미국 오바마 정부의 노동개혁

Abstract

중산층 재건을 내건 오바마 정부는 경제 회복과 함께 그 혜택이 전체 국민 특히 취약 근로자에게도 미치도록 노력했다. 2기 오바마 노동정책은 산업 전반에 퍼져 있는 균열일터(the fissured workplace) 즉 하청, 프랜차이즈, 공급체인등을 통한 이익과 책임의 분리에 효과적으로 대응하려고 하였다. 오바마 노동정책의 목표는 「근로자의 목소리가 있고 투명한 노사관계, 안전하고 공정한 일터」로 요약된다. 집단적 노사관계에서는 노동조합 조직률과 단체교섭 체결률을 높이고 노사관계에서 사용되는 정보와 자원을 공개함으로써 투명성을 제고하려고 하였다. 특히 균열일터 현상에 단체교섭이 대응할 수 있도록 공동사용자 관계에 관한 새로운 기준을 제시했다. 이 분야는 연방노동위원회(NLRB)가 주도하였다. 개별적 근로관계에서는 작업장의 안전과 보건을 강화하고 공정한 임금을 지급하도록 하였다. 균열일터 현상에 맞서 근로자 오분류를 엄격하게 규제하고 공동고용의 범위를 확대하였다. 이 분야는 백악관과 연방노동부가 주도하였다.This paper aims to introduce and to review Obama's labor policies. The President had taken a serious views of employment and labor problem. The Obama government continued to make an effort a fair distribution of benefits of economic recovery to all working people, especially to vulnerable workers. The basic goals of Obama labor policies were to raise the voice of workers and the transparency in labor-management relations, to improve safety & healthy in a workplace, and to enlarge the employer's liabilities of large companies using employees employed by other companies and agencies. These were implemented in order to respond strongly against the fissured workplace through contracting, franchising, or supply-chain. In the field of labor-management relations, the National Labor Relations Borad(NLRB) took the lead to reform collective bargaining system. After the failure of the Employee Free Choice Act in the House and the Senate, the NLRB made two important rules concerning with organizing a trade union and transparency in labor-management relation; ‘Union Elections rule’ to modernize representation-case procedures, 2014; ‘new Persuader Agreements rule’ for ensuring transparency in reporting for employers and labor relations consultants, 2015. The NLRB also made two decisions concerning a joint - employer doctrine; the Browning-Ferris decision, 2015 and the Miller & Anderson decision, 2016. The U.S. Department of Labor had got the initiative in reforming for safe workplace and fair payment in the area of individual employment relations. The department favored the increase in the federal minimum wage and overtime pay, but strongly opposed by Republicans in the Senate and House. The White House and the DOL had no choice but making orders or amending rules; Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors Executive Order; Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order; Federal 'Ban-the-Box' Executive Order ; overtime rule(Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales and Computer Employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act); fiduciary rule(Conflict of Interest Rule - Retirement Investment Advice). The DOL also made two important ‘Administrator’s Interpretations’ for responding the fissured employment; the Employee Misclassification Administrator’s Interpretation, 2015; the Jonint-Employment Administrator’s Interpretation, 2016.