On January 23, 2023, President Biden re-nominated Jessica Looman to formally become the next Director of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL). Ms. Looman originally was nominated for the position in August 2022 and made it out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in late
Department of Labor
DOL Issues 15-Day Extension of Comment Deadline for Proposed Independent Contractor Rule
On October 13, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), seeking to revise the standard for determining whether a worker is an employee or “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The NPRM proposes to withdraw the current regulations, issued during the last days of…
White House Nominates Acting DOL Wage & Hour Administrator to Lead Division
Four months after its controversial nominee, David Weil, withdrew his name from contention as Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), the White House has nominated Acting Administrator Jessica Looman to head the post. Prior to joining the DOL as Principal Deputy Administrator of the WHD at the…
DOL Announces Plan to Issue New Independent Contractor Final Rule
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its intention to issue a new final rule regarding the employee-vs.-independent contractor analysis under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). That announcement came by way of a June 3, 2022, blog post from Jessica Looman, Acting Director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. The current Independent…
Biden’s Wage and Hour Division Head Nominee Fails In Senate
Earlier this year, the absence of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from a meeting of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee enabled David Weil, President Biden’s nominee to head the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL), to make it out of the committee, where his nomination had been languishing for…
Lawsuits Filed Challenging the DOL Dual Jobs Final Rule, $15 Federal Contractor Minimum Wage
Several recent lawsuits have been filed in federal court, one challenging the Dual Jobs Final Rule published by the Department of Labor (DOL) that became effective in late December 2021, and two others filed this week by several state attorneys general challenging President Biden’s Executive Order requiring most federal contractors to pay a minimum wage…
Wage and Hour Division Nominee Clears First Senate Hurdle (Barely), Proposed Salary Increase for Overtime-Exempt Employees Appears Likely
Last week, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was absent from the meeting of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee – and that spelled good news for the Biden Administration’s nominee to head the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor, Dr. David Weil. The nomination of Dr. Weil, who previously held the…
DOL Proposes Regulations Implementing $15 Per Hour Federal Contractor Minimum Wage Executive Order
On April 27, 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14026, raising to $15 per hour — with increases to be published annually — the minimum wage certain federal contractors must pay workers performing work “on or in connection with” a covered Federal contract or subcontract. The types of contracts impacted include those covered by the…
New Secretary of Labor Hints at Increased Minimum Salary for Overtime Exemptions
Will the DOL again seek to raise the minimum salary level for exempt “white collar” employees?
In testimony before the House Education and Labor Committee on June 10, 2011, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh stated that the Department of Labor (DOL) is reviewing a Final Rule issued during the Trump administration, in which the DOL…
DOL Adopts Portions of Tipped Regulations Final Rule, Proposes Further Delay of Other Portions
While deciding to make effective some portions of the Tipped Regulations Final Rule published in the final weeks of the former administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed further delay and consideration of the most controversial provisions of the Rule, including the elimination of the “80/20 Rule” that purports to limit the percentage…