PBM reform: After years of bipartisan momentum in Congress, pharmacy benefit manager reform could advance in a midterm election year. Employers should begin assessing potential implications for health benefit design and costs.
The NLRB (finally) returns, but big changes still far away: With the required three-member quorum restored, expect renewed Board action on union elections, election objections, and unfair labor practice cases.
- However, until a third Republican Board member is confirmed, do not expect rollbacks of pro-worker Biden-era precedents, such as Cemex card check bargaining orders (historically, the Board only changes precedent with three majority votes – the Board is currently comprised of two Republicans and 1 Democrat, who are unlikely to all agree on changing precedent).
SEC and executive compensation: Expect new, simpler rules for executive compensation disclosure and heightened scrutiny of proxy advisors and stock buybacks and dividends.
- The SEC is likely to issue its long-awaited proposal to drastically streamline and simplify executive compensation disclosure. This may include reducing the number of Named Executive Officers, eliminating pay tables, reducing Pay Versus Performance requirements and re-imagining the Summary Compensation Table. Look for this in Q1.
- President Trump has suggested the SEC should do more to regulate proxy advisors, such as requiring increased disclosure of their methodologies and conflicts of interest, scrutinizing their fiduciary obligations and even analyzing potential antitrust issues.
- The President has also called upon the SEC to ban buybacks and dividends for defense contractors who fail to invest sufficiently in production and research.
Join your colleagues at this year’s CHRO Summit on March 4-6, which will feature a special focus on AI, to hear more about these and other leading practice and policy issues, and to help inform and guide the CHRO Association for the year ahead.