Where J.D. Vance and Tim Walz stand on 3 key employment issues

With the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets firmed up at last, both campaigns’ economic agendas are starting to take shape.

For HR pros seeking to forecast what a Harris or Trump presidency would mean for employment and labor issues, the records of their vice presidential nominees may offer some sort of crystal ball. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s running mate, has prioritized policies like paid leave and labor rights while serving as governor of Minnesota. Trump’s VP pick, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, has expressed interest in policies that promote family-building—whether parents choose to work or not—as well as some support for organized labor.

Here’s where the veep nominees stand on three issues relevant to HR pros.

Labor. When it comes to organized labor, there’s one thing both Vance and Walz have in common: Both joined United Auto Workers picket lines last fall when members of the union were on strike.

As a junior senator, Vance has sometimes taken pro-labor positions at odds with many of his Republican colleagues. He was one of three Republicans who signed a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in January to express concern about reports of “persistent mistreatment” of workers in the retailer’s delivery service program.

Though Vance voted for at least two bills considered to be “pro-worker” during his time in Congress, he opposes the PRO Act, which seeks to strengthen federal labor law and make it easier for workers to organize. Vance also voted to kill the Biden administration’s now-defunct joint-employer rule, which some lawmakers opposed on grounds it could hamper the way small businesses—especially franchise owners—operate.

Walz, who was a union member while working as a public school teacher, signed a sweeping labor bill last year granting Minnesota workers up to six days of paid sick and safe leave annually. The law also banned mandatory captive audience meetings, and barred employers from enforcing noncompete agreements. The Minnesota governor also supported and signed a bipartisan bill seeking to combat wage theft in 2019.

Paid family leave. Walz signed a bill granting Minnesota workers paid family and medical leave in May 2023. The law, which takes effect in 2026, requires employers to give workers up to 20 weeks of leave annually for a medical reason, to bond with a new child, or to care for a sick family member. Should Democrats control the White House and Congress next year, Walz said he believes paid family and medical leave is the first thing the party should tackle.

Vance has expressed concerns about the declining birth rate in the US, and proposed policies to boost family-building.

Last October, the Ohio senator introduced a bill that would modify the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to prevent employers from reclaiming health premiums paid on behalf of employees who take leave under the federal program, even if they decide not to return to work. Laws shouldn’t “penalize new parents who choose to stay home to care for their newborn babies,” Vance told the Washington Examiner, adding he believed the legislation would “steer Washington in a more pro-family direction.”

Childcare. In May, Walz announced Minnesota would grant $6.2 million in grants to help community organizations develop new or existing childcare businesses, and address issues such as worker training and retention, or licensing. In a statement, the governor tied childcare to families’ economic well-being: “These grants will increase access to childcare and help more Minnesotans enter the workforce, growing our labor force and economy,” he said.

Vance previously decried universal childcare in 2021, tweeting that such proposals are “a massive subsidy to the lifestyle preferences of the affluent over the preferences of the middle and working class.” Pressed about his childcare views in an Aug. 11 interview with Face the Nation’s Margaret Brennan, the vice presidential nominee declined to offer specifics, but said he wants the US to “have a childcare policy that’s good for all families, not just a particular model of family.”