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 November 2022, but no vote was held by the full Senate prior to the expiration of the last Congressional term.

Prior to joining the DOL as Principal Deputy Administrator of the WHD at the beginning of 2021, Ms. Looman was executive director of the Minnesota building trades coalition. She had been in position of Acting Administrator of the WHD since June 2021 but, due to regulatory requirements for agency nominees, her official title was removed while she continued to work during the nomination process. Ms. Looman is the second Biden Administration nominee for the WHD Administrator position, following the withdrawal of the original – and more controversial – nominee, David Weil.

Ms. Looman’s tenure at the WHD has been an active one, with the Division rescinding final wage and hour rules concerning the joint employer and independent contractor analyses, issuing a new independent contractor rule, and soon proposing revisions to the overtime rule concerning the salary requirements for the executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) exemptions. For further background regarding Ms. Looman and former nominee Weil, see our blog post, White House Nominates Acting DOL Wage & Hour Administrator to Lead Division.