The Labor and Employment Law Implications of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

Adam Sasiadek, St. John's University School of Law

Abstract

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was enacted in February 2009, during America’s worst economic and financial downturn since the Great Depression. The main purpose of this legislation is to provide fiscal stimulation to the ailing American economy through tax credits, aid to state governments, and most importantly, public works projects. Although the Act lacks explicit treatment of labor and employment issues, there are provisions on trade, immigration, and job creation that, in light of American economic and political history and the new regulations of federal government projects already instituted by President Obama, represent a shift in the federal government’s policy orientation on labor and employment law. The ARRA therefore provides a template for the proposals that we can expect from the Obama Administration on labor and employment law issues, and also on those socio-economic policies that affect and influence the American worker and workplace.