• Ohio’s jobless rate remained at 4.2% in December (versus 3.5% nationwide) while labor force participation was 61.2% (versus 62.3% nationwide).
• This map shows the December jobless rates in all 88 Ohio counties.
• The percentage of Ohio workers represented by a labor union rose from 13% in 2021 to 14% last year, a jump of about 52,000 new union employees, reports say.
• Due to a new federal law, beginning in 2025, new 401(k) plans must automatically enroll participants when they become eligible, OMA Connections Partner MCM reports.
• OMA Connections Partner Fisher Phillips has published this list of FAQs regarding a proposal to prohibit employers from using non-compete clauses.
• Fisher Phillips has also developed this checklist for employers considering earned-wage access (or on-demand pay).
• Bricker & Eckler, the OMA’s general counsel, has published this update on new federal protections for pregnant and nursing employees.
• A federal court has struck down certain Trump-era changes to the rules by which the NLRB administers union elections, says OMA Connections Partner Benesch.

Meanwhile, Gallup says the pandemic has forged an even stronger relationship between having a best friend at work and employees’ overall workplace satisfaction. 1/26/2023