Thomas Beck is Vice President, Labor & Employee Relations for HCA Healthcare, a Fortune 100 company with almost 300,000 employees.  He leads a team of 34 that is responsible for union avoidance; collective bargaining; the administration of more than 60 collective bargaining agreements across 37 hospitals in eight states; sensitive internal investigations and matters of employee discipline; and the development and application of workplace policies on a variety of matters such as attendance, background investigations, drug testing, discipline, etc.  Thomas also serves as the Ethics & Compliance Officer for HCA’s 1800-person HR Group.      

In December 2016 and January 2017, Thomas was an adviser to the Trump Presidential Transition, where he recommended top candidates for 30 presidentially-appointed, senior executive positions in the federal government; advised Transition leadership about domestic policy; and helped a Cabinet nominee prepare for his Senate confirmation hearing. 

Prior to joining HCA, Thomas spent four years at the Federal Labor Relations Authority.  President Bush appointed Thomas as the FLRA’s Chairman in 2008 after his unanimous confirmation by the Senate.  As Chairman, he was responsible for the leadership of the agency’s 120-person staff and the management of its $25 million budget.  Thomas implemented management changes that helped the organization achieve a 270 percent increase in productivity and a 250 percent increase in employee engagement during his first two years at the agency.  While at the FLRA, Thomas authored or co-authored published decisions resolving more than 700 legal disputes.   

Before his appointment to the FLRA, Thomas was a partner in the Washington office of the global law firm Jones Day, where he practiced for 16 years after his graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law.  Thomas appeared in numerous federal and state trial courts throughout the United States and argued cases in several United States Courts of Appeals.  He also taught law school courses on the legislative process, statutory interpretation, and constitutional law. 

Thomas is the author of two books.  The first is Constitutional Separation of Powers: Cases & Commentary, a legal text that surveys the powers of the federal government and how those powers are allocated among governmental institutions.  The second is the illustrated children’s book Mason the Lucky Dog.