March 13, 2025
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Senate Confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer To Be Next Secretary of Labor

The U.S. Senate recently confirmed two of President Trump’s nominees for top posts at the Department of Labor. On March 10, it confirmed former Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the Secretary of Labor in a 67 to 32 vote. On March 12, it confirmed former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling as the Deputy Secretary of Labor in a 53 to 46...
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January 27, 2025
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Category: Affirmative Action and Diversity

Acting Secretary of Labor Micone Orders OFCCP To Halt All E.O. 11246 Investigations

Acting Labor Secretary Vincent Micone has ordered DOL personnel to cease all enforcement activities under rescinded Executive Order 11246 and to pause enforcement activities under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 pending further guidance. Secretary’s Order 03-2025, issued January 24, 2025, covers “all pending cases, conciliation agreements, investigations, complaints, and any other enforcement-related or investigative activity.”...
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January 22, 2025
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President Trump Designates New Leadership at Workplace Compliance Agencies

President Trump has moved quickly to install new leadership at agencies responsible for workplace compliance. He has already designated new officials at the EEOC, where he named Republican Commissioner Andrea Lucas to serve as Acting Chair, and at the NLRB, where he designated Republican Marvin Kaplan to serve as Chairman. At the Labor Department, he designated career official Vince Micone...
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January 16, 2025
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President-Elect Trump Picks Former EEOC Commissioner Keith Sonderling for Deputy Secretary of Labor

President-elect Trump has announced Keith Sonderling as his choice to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor. The Deputy Labor Secretary is DOL’s second-in-command and generally manages the department’s day-to-day operations. Sonderling served as an EEOC Commissioner from September 2020 until August 2024. Before that, he served as Acting Administrator of DOL’s Wage and Hour Division. President Trump will have to...
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December 09, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL Appears To Abandon Its Attempt To Overhaul the Registered Apprenticeship Program

The Biden Administration appears to be giving up on its attempt to overhaul the regulations governing registered apprenticeship programs. The Labor Department published its proposed rule on January 17, 2024, and in June sent a draft of the final regulations to the White House Office of Management and Budget for approval. On November 27, 2024, OMB posted on its website that the...
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December 05, 2024
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Proposes Phasing Out Subminimum Wages for People With Disabilities

DOL’s Wage and Hour Division published a proposed rule December 4 that would phase out the Section 14(c) certificate program that allows employers to pay less than the minimum wage to individuals with disabilities. If the proposed rule were adopted in its current form, applications sent on or after the rule’s effective date would be ignored, and existing certificates would...
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December 04, 2024
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Category: Disability, Accommodations, and Leaves

DOL Says an Employee Has the Right To Use FMLA Leave for a Clinical Trial

An employee may use FMLA leave to participate in a clinical trial or research study to treat a serious health condition, according to a new opinion letter from the Labor Department. An eligible employee has the right to use FMLA leave because of a serious health condition. The Family and Medical Leave Act defines a serious health condition as an...
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November 25, 2024
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Category: Agency Enforcement

President-Elect Trump Taps Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer To Be Secretary of Labor

President-elect Donald Trump (R-Oregon) has named Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer as his choice to be the next Secretary of Labor. The first-term Congresswoman is an unconventional choice in view of her support for the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 20), legislation that would rewrite labor law in favor of organized labor. Sean O’Brien, the general president of...
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November 21, 2024
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Category: DOL

DOL’s Increase to Minimum Salary Threshold for White-Collar Overtime Exemption Blocked Nationwide

A federal court has vacated a Labor Department rule that increased the minimum salary level for the “white-collar” overtime exemption. Therefore, the prior minimum salary threshold of $684 weekly is back in effect. The opinion came November 15 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor. The Biden Administration’s final...
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October 30, 2024
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL Enforcement Report Highlights Focus on Coercive Employment Contracts

The Solicitor of Labor has issued a report highlighting DOL’s recent enforcement priority—employment contracts with provisions that may discourage workers from exercising their rights under worker protection laws. The report, Solicitor of Labor Enforcement Report: Coercive Contractual Provisions, lists seven types of concerning provisions. The provisions most likely to concern DOL investigators are those that: require employees to agree that they...
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