After briefly releasing — and then quickly withdrawing — its regulatory agenda last week, the Department of Labor (DOL) has republished its Spring 2025 unified agenda. According to the DOL’s press release, the Spring 2025 agenda reflects a focus on transparency, deregulatory actions, and clarifying employer obligations across a range of labor and employment issues.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced several self-audit programs to assist employers, unions, and benefit plan officials with voluntarily assessing and correcting their compliance with federal labor laws. One of those programs is the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. The PAID program encourages employers to self-identify and resolve minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and certain leave violations under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently confirmed the establishment of a temporary Office of Immigration Policy, aimed at enhancing how DOL administers employment‑based immigration programs.
The new office comes amid growing employer reliance on legal immigration pathways to ensure a “timely, qualified, and stable workforce” through improved visa access as border and interior enforcement has intensified.… Continue Reading
President Trump’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 includes substantial reductions to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) budget and staff. The proposed discretionary budget is slashed from $13.5 billion to $9 billion, reducing it by one third. The number of employees is reduced by nearly 4,000 from 14,855 to 10,879—or a more than 25% cut. … Continue Reading
On April 30, 2025, Congressional Representatives Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) introduced the More Paid Leave for More Americans Act in the House of Representatives.
The bill would develop a three-year pilot program administered by the federal Department of Labor (DOL) that would provide grant funding to states that establish paid family leave programs in partnership with private companies.… Continue Reading
During the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final regulation (the “2024 Rule”) seeking to increase the salary threshold for overtime eligibility for the “white-collar” exemption (also referred to as the “EAP” exemption – executive, administrative, and professional) and the “highly-compensated employee” (HCE) exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).… Continue Reading
In our previous post, we discussed the nationwide temporary restraining order issued by the United States District Court for the North District of Illinois that temporarily prevented the Department of Labor from requiring federal contractors to certify that they do not operate any diversity, equity, or inclusion programs that violate the Trump Administration’s recent Executive Orders (“Certification Provision”).… Continue Reading
On March 27, 2025, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a nationwide temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the Department of Labor (DOL) from requiring federal contractors and grant recipients to certify that they do not operate any diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that violate the Trump Administration’s recent DEI related Executive Orders.… Continue Reading
On March 10, 2025, in a 67-32 vote, the Senate confirmed the appointment of one-term Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the 30th Secretary of Labor and former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling as Deputy Secretary.
Formally nominated by President Trump on January 20, 2025, Chavez-DeRemer (R) represented Oregon’s Fifth Congressional District from 2022-2024, sitting on House Committees for Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, and Transportation and Infrastructure.… Continue Reading
One week after his inauguration, President Donald Trump has taken additional moves to impact the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Trump Moves Quickly to Reshape the NLRB
As we expected, and reported here, President Trump has moved quickly to re-make the NLRB. Almost immediately after taking office, the President named Republican board member Marvin Kaplan as Chair of the NLRB. … Continue Reading