NLRB Has a Quorum! On January 7, Senate-confirmed National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominees James Murphy and Scott Mayer were sworn in as new Board members, giving the Board a 2-1 Republican majority. The Board now has...more
1/9/2026
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
H-2B ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Guidance ,
NLRB ,
NLRB General Counsel ,
Proposed Rules ,
Quorum ,
Wage and Hour
Record 43-Day Shutdown Ends; Federal Government Reopens -
As a quick recap, the House passed the original Continuing Resolution (CR) in September to fund the federal government through November 21; the CR then went to the...more
11/14/2025
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Appropriations Bill ,
Continuing Resolution ,
Federal Funding ,
Government Shutdown ,
IRS ,
Labor Reform ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tipped Employees ,
Wage and Hour
The EEOC Regains a Quorum -
On October 7, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Brittany Panuccio to be a commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Once she is sworn in and takes her...more
10/10/2025
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
NLRB ,
Senate Committees ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
Senate Advances DOL and EEOC Nominees -
Earlier today, the Senate voted on a procedural motion to advance the nominations of individuals to serve in key positions at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Equal...more
WPI Urges the Department of Justice to Block Anticompetitive Pay Regulations for App-Based Workers -
In response to a request for information, WPI filed comments urging the Department of Justice to investigate and block...more
9/19/2025
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Heat Exposure ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
One Big Beautiful Bill Act ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Preemption ,
Tax Deductions ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Introduction The first eight months of the Trump administration saw dramatic changes in labor and employment policy—from civil rights to traditional labor law to immigration—with more to come as key positions at oversight...more
9/2/2025
/ Colleges ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Grants ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Labor Relations ,
Minimum Wage ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
SCOTUS ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tipped Employees ,
Trump Administration ,
Unions ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour ,
White-Collar Exemptions
The Littler WPI Policy Week in Review will pause for the August congressional recess and will return after Labor Day.
Hiring Slowed to 73,000 Jobs in July -
Employment increased by 73,000 jobs in July according to the...more
“Big Beautiful” Reconciliation Bill Pending Final Passage in the House Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed the reconciliation bill by a narrow vote of 51-50, with Vice President JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote....more
7/3/2025
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Job Creation ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
U.S. Department of Labor Expands Opinion Letter Program -
In an effort to increase official guidance and provide compliance assistance to the regulated community, the U.S. Department of Labor expanded its opinion letter...more
U.S. DOL Pauses Enforcement of Biden-era Independent Contractor Rule -
On April 29, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a press release announcing new guidance on how to determine employee or independent contractor...more
5/5/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
NLRB ,
Over-Time ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
At a Glance -
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior...more
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/17/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fair Workweek ,
NLRB ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week....more
3/3/2025
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Immigration Reform ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Relations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Paid Leave ,
Pay Transparency ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Small Business ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On November 15, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated and set aside the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s final regulation increasing the salary threshold for the “white collar” overtime...more
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a limited injunction of the U.S. Department of Labor’s new regulations increasing the minimum salary that certain executive, administrative,...more
Under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (known as the Closing Loopholes Act), as of January 1, 2025, intentional underpayment of employees’ wages and certain benefits will be a criminal offense, with a maximum of 10 years’...more
The U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule on January 9, 2024, defining “independent contractor” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final regulation rescinds a 2021 rule defining the same term. In place...more
1/9/2024
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Final Rules ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Wage and Hour
On August 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor published its final rule, calling for the most sweeping revisions to the rules governing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) enforcement since the Reagan administration’s 1982 reforms....more
On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department published in the Federal Register its guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) new prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. Taxpayers seeking to qualify for...more
12/2/2022
/ Apprenticeships ,
Construction Project ,
Employees ,
Energy Projects ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage and Hour
On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Among many other provisions, the IRA contains a new federal 30% tax credit for private construction, alteration or repair of...more
10/14/2022
/ Apprenticeships ,
Clean Energy ,
Comment Period ,
Construction Project ,
Employees ,
Energy Projects ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Public Comment ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Wage and Hour
On October 11, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor released a proposed rule to update the test for determining whether a worker is an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or an independent contractor. FLSA...more
10/12/2022
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Misclassification ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Wage and Hour
I. The State of the U.S. Workforce -
In the early months of the pandemic, jobs declined by a staggering 22.2 million. The good news is that jobs recovery has been on the rise since February 2020. In July, the number of...more
On September 6, 2022, the U.S. National Labor Relations Board delivered employers a slightly belated Labor Day “present” – a proposal to revise yet again its standard for determining joint-employer status under the National...more
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, calling for the most sweeping revisions to the rules governing Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) enforcement since...more
On March 14, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas delivered a victory for businesses that utilize independent contractors, and for independent contractors themselves, when it held that the...more
3/16/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Over-Time ,
Statutory Violations ,
Wage and Hour