As we warned just about one month ago, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week that it had officially rescinded the Trump administration definition of joint employer. An array of Democrat Attorney Generals had filed a number of lawsuits (some were successful and are on appeal) challenging several provisions of the Trump-era joint…
Read More »That’s right, President Biden’s nominee for the position of Administrator of the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division is David Weil, who also served in that exact same capacity during the Obama administration. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a confirmation hearing yesterday on the nominations of Weil…
Read More »The picture is becoming increasingly clear as to the depth and breadth of the pro-worker thrust of the US Department of Labor in the Biden administration. Earlier this week, the Wage and Hour Division issued a proposed rulemaking that would scale back the circumstances under which an employer may pay a lower minimum wage to…
Read More »In the same vein, the Department of Labor (DOL) also announced this week that it was launching a new initiative aimed at strengthening the rights of workers. This new effort, entitled “Essential Workers, Essential Protections”, provides workers with information about the wage and hour laws that apply to them, including instructions on how to contact DOL with questions or complaints.…
Read More »Underscoring the importance of who’s calling the shots at the NLRB, DOL and other federal departments during the transition from the Trump to the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) this week announced that it was withdrawing three opinion letters that address compliance issues related to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The…
Read More »It’s been over a decade since the US Department of Labor (DOL) abandoned its long practice of issuing opinion letters in response to employer questions on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) application. Back in 2009, DOL changed that historic approach to resolving issues relating FLSA and began suing employers as the primary approach to enforcing…
Read More »Notwithstanding the above and possible re-opening of the issue, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has released the final version of the long-awaited joint employer rule. The final rule now employs a four-part test to determine joint employer status that includes whether a franchise: 1) maintains power to hire and fire; 2) supervise schedules and…
Read More »As the end of 2019 rapidly approaches, many eyes are turning to several federal regulatory agencies where a number of important decisions are expected after the Trump administration released its regulatory schedule this week. The biggest of the big issues relates the question of joint employment status and its applicability under a number of federal…
Read More »Notwithstanding the concerns of some over the generally more reasonable regulatory environment established by the Trump administration across the federal bureaucracy, employees continue to benefit from more effective policies. As a perfect case in point, we noted this week that the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) collected a record amount of wages…
Read More »Speaking of proposed rulemakings, the Department of Labor got in the game this week as well with two different issues. First, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the White House has begun its review of the DOL’s proposed final rule on drug testing. As drafted, the rule will allow states to drug-test unemployment…
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