Holly Fechner
Harvard Kennedy School
Belfer-L 2-D
(202) 662-5475 (w)
(617) 384-5899 (use only during office hours) holly_fechner@hks.harvard.edu
DPI-425
Spring 2016
Class: Mondays at 4:15 to 6 pm
Littauer 382
Office hours: On request in person, generally 2 to 4 pm on
Mondays and by telephone
Jennifer Valois, Faculty Assistant jennifer_valois@hks.harvard.edu
(617) 495-1339
This course explores the foundations of U.S. labor and employment policies and contemporary labor issues under active political debate. It considers the significance of New Deal laws governing wages, hours, and collective bargaining, as well as advances in anti-discrimination policy during the Civil Rights era. It examines how workers and employers today view their rights and responsibilities, and covers important demographic and labor market trends. This course highlights the key political players that create and enforce workplace policies, including
Congress, the Executive Branch, businesses and unions, think tanks and non-profit organizations.
Students will learn practical advocacy skills and should be prepared to participate actively in class discussion.
The goals of the course are to understand substantive labor and employment policy and to develop and practice advocacy skills. Students will learn the historical foundations and contemporary applications of three primary branches of U.S. labor and employment policy:
 minimum labor standards,
 collective bargaining, and
 anti-discrimination policies.
We will also discuss and practice advocacy skills, including lobbying; staffing a high-level decision maker; and advocating through written or spoken words. We will employ an analytical framework to help us deconstruct the various components of policymaking. Specifically, over the course of the class, we will give particular attention to:
 text - what a bill, law, or regulation says;
 policy - what one wants the bill, law, or regulation to say;
 politics - what is feasible given existing realities; and
 advocacy - tools to change policies.

This is a one credit class that meets once a week for just under two hours. Your final grade is based on class participation and written work. All students must be familiar with and abide by the HKS Honor Code to pass. Please consult the following resource for further information on academic integrity at HKS: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/registrar/procedures/integrity.
Students are expected to be prepared for every class and participate actively in discussions.
Active participation does not always mean talking. Often, it means listening carefully to what others are saying and asking questions of them when you don’t understand or you disagree.
Comments can and should be directed toward other students as well as the professor. Active participation necessitates completion of the required reading prior to the class meeting.
One component of the class participation grade is a series of reaction papers to the readings.
Before each class meeting starting on February 1, you are to complete a brief written assignment that consists of two questions:
1) Which argument in this week’s readings did you find to be especially convincing, or what facts did you find particularly compelling?
OR
2)
What aspect of this week’s readings did you find most puzzling, and why?
AND
3)
A question specific to each week’s reading that I will share with you.
Answers should be a page in total. Assignments are due in the “Assignments” section of the
Canvas course webpage ( https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/11083 ) by 10:00 p.m
. each Sunday , the day before the class meets. All assignments submitted through Canvas should be posted with a subject line with the following format: “Last Name, First Name – Assignment for Class X.”
You are permitted to skip up to two week’s reaction papers over the course of the semester. Late assignments will not be accepted. Class participation, including reaction papers to the readings, counts for 25% of your grade.
Attendance at every class meeting is required and expected. Plan your schedule around the class meetings. Please notify Professor Fechner in advance if you need to miss class.
The remainder of your grade (75%) will be based on three written work products:

Lobby Day Fact Sheet (25%) - Due on February 29 by noon . You will produce a two- page fact sheet advocating for a particular policy position on paid sick days that you will use in class for our Lobby Day exercise on February 29.
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
Memorandum and Talking Points for Elected Official (25%) - Due on April 4. You will produce a six to seven page memorandum to your hypothetical congressional committee staff director supervisor, along with one page of talking points that your hypothetical elected official could use in a meeting with a constituent or advocate.

Workplace Policy Change Speech or Op-Ed (25%) - Due on May 6 (or April 25, the last day of class, if you select the speech option). You will produce an 800 word speech or op-ed on a labor or employment topic.
Any device that will make noise during class must be turned off during class, except computers
(provided you are using the computer to take notes) or technology used to assist with an accommodation for a student with a disability. Please see Professor Fechner if you need an exception to this rule for a particular class for extenuating circumstances.
Class 1 - January 25 Introduction to Course and Employment-at-Will
Richard B. Freeman, America Works: Critical Thoughts on the Exceptional U.S. Labor Market,
Introduction, Chapter 1 and 2 (2007).
Horace Gray Wood, A Treatise on the Law of Master & Servant , Section 134 at 271 (1877). http://books.google.com/books?id=qrYzAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22treatise%20on%20the%20law%
20of%20master%22&pg=PP3#v=onepage&q&f=false
The National Conference of State Legislatures, “The At-Will Presumption and Exceptions to the
Rule,” (2016). http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/at-will-employment-overview.aspx
The Future of Jobs: The Onrushing Wave, Economist (January 14, 2014). http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21594264-previous-technological-innovation-hasalways-delivered-more-long-run-employment-not-less
Optional:
James Gwatney, Robert Lawson and Joshua Hall, “Economic Freedom of the World,” 2015
Annual Report, Fraser Institute (2015) at 15. (For an update of Freeman’s key chart.) http://www.freetheworld.com/release.html
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Class 2 - February 1 Minimum Labor Standards: The New Deal Foundation
Kirstin Downey, The Woman Behind the New Deal , Prologue, Chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 16, 26 and 27 (2009).
David Von Drehle , Triangle: The Fire that Changed America, Prologue and Chapter 8 (2003).
[Course Page]
U.S. Department of Labor Overview of the Fair Labor Standards Act (skim). http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm
Class 3 - February 8 Contemporary Minimum Labor Standards: Overtime
Provisions and Classification under the Fair Labor
Standards Act
Alexander v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc ., 765 F.3d (9th Cir. 2014), http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2014/08/27/12-17458.pdf
Jared Bernstein and Ross Eisenbrey, “New Inflation-Adjusted Salary Test Would Bring Needed
Clarity to FLSA Rules,” Economic Policy Institute Report (March 13, 2014). http://s2.epi.org/files/2014/Overtime-Rules-03-13-2014.pdf
Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executives, Administrative, Professional, Outside
Sales and Computer Employees, 80 Fed. Reg. 38515 (July 6, 2015) (read pages 38517 to 34). https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-07-06/pdf/2015-15464.pdf
Optional:
Chai R. Feldblum and Robin Appleberry, “Legislatures, Agencies, Courts and Advocates: How
Laws are Made, Interpreted and Modified” (2006). http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1086
Who’s the Boss, National Employment Law Project (May 2014) pages 1 to 9 and 32 to 39. http://www.nelp.org/page/-/Justice/2014/Whos-the-Boss-Restoring-Accountability-Labor-
Standards-Outsourced-Work-Report.pdf?nocdn=1
HOLIDAY -- No class on Presidents’ Day, February 15
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Class 4 - February 22 Labor Markets: Jobs and Workers
The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything, Heather Boushey, “The New
Breadwinners,”
(2009). http://shriverreport.org/the-new-breadwinners/
Caroline Fredrickson, Under the Bus: How Working Women are Being Run Over, Chapter 1
(2015). [Course Page]
David Weil, T he Fissured Workplace : Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can
Be Done to Improve It, Chapters 1, 2 and 11 (2014). [Course Page]
Thomas Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century , Chapter 9 (2014). [Course Page]
***Fact Sheet Assignment Due - February 29 by Noon
Class 5 - February 29 Lobby Day: Paid Sick Days
Healthy Families Act (S. 497 and H.R. 932).
S. 497: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senatebill/497?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22healthy+families+act%22%5D%7D&resultIndex=
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H.R. 932: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/housebill/932?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22healthy+families+act%22%5D%7D&resultIndex=
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Chart on Paid Sick Days Statutes (December 2015). http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/psd/paid-sick-days-statutes.pdf
Healthy Families Act Fact Sheet - Overview (February 2015).
http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/psd/the-healthy-families-actfact-sheet.pdf
Healthy Families Act Fact Sheet - Section by Section (March 2015).
http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/work-family/psd/the-healthy-families-act-asection-by-section-summary.pdf
Rachel O’Connor, Jeff Hayes and Barbara Gault, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “ Paid
Sick Days Access Varies by Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, and Job Characteristics” (July
2014).
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http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/paid-sick-days-access-varies-by-race-ethnicity-sexualorientation-and-job-characteristics
Jessica Milli, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, “Valuing Good Health in Maryland: The
Costs and Benefits of Earned Sick Days” (January 2015). http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/valuing-good-health-in-maryland-the-costs-and-benefitsof-earned-sick-days-1#sthash.wdWsUl6z.54AHFkxU.dpuf
Claudia Williams, Jasmin Griffin and Jeff Hayes, Institute for Women’s Policy Research,
“Valuing Good Health in Oregon: The Costs and Benefits of Earned Sick Days” (May 2013). http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/valuing-good-health-in-oregon-the-costs-and-benefits-ofearned-sick-days/
Max Nelsen, Freedom Foundation, “The Effect of Mandatory Paid Sick Leave polices
Reviewing the Evidence” (January 2015). http://www.myfreedomfoundation.com/sites/default/files/documents/The%20Effect%20of%20M andatory%20Paid%20Sick%20Leave%20Policies%20-%20Reviewing%20the%20Evidence.pdf
Employment Policies Institute, “Paid Sick Leave in Seattle: Examining the Impact on the Service
Industry” (August 2013). https://www.epionline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/130801_EPI_PolicyBrief_final.pdf
Class 6 - March 7 Collective Bargaining: The New Deal Foundation
Nelson Lichtenstein, State of the Union: A Century of American Labor , Introduction and
Chapters 1 and 2 (2002). [Course Page]
Kirstin Downey, The Woman Behind the New Deal , Chapters 21, 22 and 23 (2011).
Basic Guide to the National Labor Relations Act: General Principles of Law Under the Statute and Procedures of the National Labor Relations Act (1997) pages 1 to 32 (skim). https://www.nlrb.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/basic-page/node-3024/basicguide.pdf
SPRING BREAK -- No class on April 14
Class 7 - March 21 Contemporary Union Organizing and Collective
Bargaining
Richard B. Freeman, America Works: Critical Thoughts on the Exceptional U.S. Labor Market
Chapter 5 (2007).
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Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. et al, 362 NLRB No. 186 (2015). http://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d4581d99106
Brief of amicus curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation filed February 24, 2015. http://blog.pacificlegal.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/AC-BRIEF-final.pdf
Steven Greenhouse, “The Friedrichs Case: A Time Bomb for Unions,” Washington Post (Jan.
15, 2016). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-friedrichs-case-a-time-bomb-forunions/2016/01/15/f4ff39da-bac3-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html
Tim Jones, “Political Appeal of Bashing American Unions May Have Peaked,” Bloomberg
Politics (Sept. 28, 2015). http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-09-28/political-appeal-of-bashing-americanunions-may-have-peaked .
Optional:
Dr. Michael J. Hicks and Michael D. LaFaive, “Economic Growth and Right-to-Work Laws,”
(August 28, 2013). http://www.mackinac.org/19051
Brigham Frandsen, “Why Unions Still Matter: The Effect of Unionization on the Distribution of
Employee Earnings,” (January 30, 2012). http://economics.mit.edu/files/6950
Steven Greenhouse, “Workers Organize, but Don’t Unionize, to Get Protection Under Labor
Law,” New York Times (Sept. 6, 2015). http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/business/economy/nonunion-employees-turn-to-work-sitecommittees-for-protection.html
Class 8 - March 28 Anti-Discrimination Policies: The Civil Rights Era
Foundation
Susan D. Carle, “A Social Movement History of Title VII Disparate Impact Analysis,” (2010).
(Read pages 12 to 63) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1538525
Martin Luther King, Jr., If the Negro Wins, Labor Wins (February 2, 1962). http://mlkkpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/if_the_negro_wins_labor_wins/
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Martin Luther King, Jr., Address at the Illinois State Convention of the AFL-CIO (October 7,
1965). http://mlkkpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/address_at_the_illinois_state_conve ntion_of_the_afl_cio/
***Memorandum and Talking Points to Elected Official Paper Due - April 4 by Noon
Class 9 - April 4 Contemporary Anti-Discrimination Policy:
Discrimination against Caregivers
Joan C. Williams, Unbending Gender , Chapter 1 (2001). [Course Page]
Li Zhou, “Year in Review: The Biggest Stories About Gender Inequality at Work,” The Atlantic
(Dec. 31, 2015). http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/gender-equality-workplace-2015/422328 /
Stephanie Bornstein, “Work, Family, and Discrimination at the Bottom of the Ladder,”
Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law Policy (2012). http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/hastlj59&men_hide=f alse&men_tab=citnav&collection=journals&id=1351
Optional:
Workplace Flexibility 2010, The United Kingdom Flexible Working Act (2006), http://workplaceflexibility2010.org/images/uploads/C_LegalMemo_FWAUK.pdf
Richard Thompson Ford, “Discounting Discrimination:
Dukes v. Wal-Mart Proves that
Yesterday’s Civil Rights Law Can’t Keep up with Today’s Economy, 5 Harvard Law & Policy
Review 69 (Winter 2011). http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/harlpolrv5&collection=journals&in dex=journals/harlpolrv71&id=71
Class 10 - April 11 Future Labor Markets: Education and Training
Andrew Hogan and Brian Roberts, “Occupational Employment Projections to 2024,” U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review (December 2015).
http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/occupational-employment-projections-to-2024-1.htm
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David Autor, The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market: Implications for
Employment and Earnings (April 2010). http://economics.mit.edu/files/5554
Lawrence Mishel, Education is not the Cure for High Unemployment or for Income Inequality
(January 2011). http://www.epi.org/publication/education_is_not_the_cure_for_high_unemployment_or_for_inc ome_inequality/
Class 11 - April 18 Modernizing Labor Laws
Steve King and Gene Zaino, “Your Company Needs Independent Workers,” Harvard Business
Review (Nov. 23, 2015). https://hbr.org/2015/11/your-company-needs-independent-workers?cm_sp=Article-_-Links-_-
Top%20of%20Page%20Recirculation
Seth D. Harris and Alan B. Krueger, “A Proposal for Modernizing Labor Laws for Twenty-First-
Century Work: The “Independent Worker,” The Hamilton Project Discussion Paper 1015-10
(December 2015). http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/12/09-modernizing-labor-laws-for-theindependent-worker-krueger-harris
Benjamin Sachs, “Do We Need an Independent Worker Category?,” On Labor: Workers,
Unions and Politics (December 8, 2015). http://onlabor.org/2015/12/08/do-we-need-an-independent-worker-category/#more-6978
Caroline Fredrickson, Under the Bus: How Working Women are Being Run Over, Chapter 4
(2015). [Course Page]
Marco Rubio, “How to Get Washington Off the Backs of the 21st Century Economy (December
28, 2015). https://marcorubio.com/news/sharing-economy-technology-policy-proposals/
Class 12 - April 25 The Future of Labor and Employment Policies
Richard B. Freeman, America Works: Critical Thoughts on the Exceptional U.S. Labor Market,
Chapter 9 (2007).
Harold Meyerson, “If Labor Dies, What’s Next?” The American Prospect (September 12, 2012). http://prospect.org/article/if-labor-dies-whats-next
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Nick Hanauer and David Rolf, “Shared Security, Shared Growth,” Democracy Journal
(December 18, 2015). http://democracyjournal.org/magazine/37/shared-security-shared-growth/?page=all
*** Workplace Policy Change Speech due - April 25 by class time, or Op-Ed due - May 6 at
Noon.
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