Change is coming to America's labor and employment laws, and it's coming in the midst of the worst downturn in the economy in the last 30 years. With layoffs and bailouts dominating the daily news, these are challenging times for both employers and employees.

Private-sector union membership is at 7.5 percent, one-third of the rate in 1983, and unions are anxious to reverse the trend. With President Obama now in office and both chambers of the Congress controlled by Democrats, some likely changes are looming.

Several involve the Employee Free Choice Act, which the Democrats introduced in both houses of Congress on March 10. The new bills are identical to last year's bill, which passed the House of Representatives but was stopped in the Senate by a filibuster.

Both versions of the new legislation would do away with secret-ballot elections used when a group of employees is seeking to organize a union. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has conducted such elections for the past 70 years. If the law is changed, a union would be recognized as the bargaining representative when 50 percent plus one of the employees in the bargaining unit sign union authorization cards.

Under the Employee Free Choice Act, employers would lose the right to request that an election be held. Currently, the NLRB sets an election 30 to 45 days after 30 percent of the workers have signed authorization cards and the union has filed a petition with the NLRB requesting certification. This delay gives the employer the opportunity to discuss with its workers the pros and cons of unionization until workers cast secret ballots, without peer pressure, in an election.

This new "card check" recognition approach, as it's called, would place employers at a distinct disadvantage, and many wouldn't even know a union organization effort was under way before the local union declaring representation.

Also under the act, after the union was certified, union and management representatives would have 90 days to negotiate a contract. If no agreement were reached at the end of that period, either party could request federal mediation. After 30 days of mediation, either party could request binding arbitration. The federal arbitrator would be authorized to decide the first contract, covering wages, benefits, and other terms of employment, which would be binding for two years.

Under current law, initial contract negotiation requires bargaining in good faith. No change in the status quo occurs until an agreement has been reached. An impasse implements the company's last offer, and the union has the right to strike. Under the Employee Free Choice Act, the government would impose the contract terms on the parties if no agreement were reached within 120 days of union certification through "card check."

Additionally, the Free Choice Act also would impose three new penalties on employers found by the NLRB to have engaged in unfair labor practices during periods of union organizing and bargaining for an initial contract.

Presently, the Free Choice Act has majority support in the House of Representatives. However, Sens. Arlen Specter, from labor-friendly Pennsylvania, and Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat from Wal-Mart's home state, made announcements that they would not vote for the bill in its present form. This means the bill in its present form will have a difficult time mustering the 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster, which defeated the bill in the last Congress. Various management and labor groups now are lobbying for compromise proposals, which make it likely that the bill will become law eventually in some form.

Another likely change involves an expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While President Obama was in the U.S. Senate, he proposed the FMLA be expanded to cover businesses employing as few as 25 workers, down from 50 currently. Under his presidency, the FMLA likely also will be expanded to include leave for elder care and domestic violence and to provide parents with 24 hours of leave each year to attend school activities for their children. Obama also supports granting seven days of paid annual sick leave for each employee.

Other likely changes include:

•The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). In 2007, then Sen. Obama supported amending WARN to require a 90-day written notice of plant closings or mass layoffs, instead of the current 60-day notice, and to double the penalties for violating companies. He also supported applying WARN to companies with as few as 50 employees, compared with a minimum 100 currently. Watch for him to get behind a renewed call for those changes.

•The Paycheck Fairness Act. This legislation would toughen the remedy provisions of the Equal Pay Act by allowing plaintiffs to recover compensatory and punitive damages from employers discriminating against women in setting wages. The Equal Pay Act now provides only for limited damages and back-pay awards, which tend to be less. The Paycheck Fairness Act also would allow class-action lawsuits to proceed more easily by enabling class members automatically to be considered part of the class until they choose to opt out of the class. Under present law, it's difficult to bring Equal Pay Act suits as class actions because the act requires plaintiffs to opt into a suit.

•Anti-discrimination. Sen. Obama cosponsored the Equal Remedies Act of 2007, which would have removed the limits (currently maxed at $300,000) on the amount of punitive damages and damages for pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses, in discrimination suits brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Obama likely would support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) currently prohibits such discrimination in Washington state.

Obama and Congress are expected to change drastically the balance of power between management and labor in the workplace. Regardless of the changes that might come to current labor and employment laws, at the end of the day companies and workers will need to find ways to work together in order to survive.