Federal agencies including the US Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Homeland Security provided a series of updates on new and existing regulatory efforts to the White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday.
The filings provided timelines for upcoming proposals and final rules, such as worker classification, while also announcing new regulations addressing child work hours, protections for pregnant workers and the theory of disparate impact liability, among other topics.
The announcements are part of the Trump administration’s broader push to reshape federal labor law enforcement, particularly in the anti-discrimination and wage-and-hour contexts.
DOL targets October for independent contractor rule
One of the clearest elements that was clarified last week is the Trump administration independent contact rulethe proposed version of which DOL released in February.
The proposal would bring the agency’s interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act back closer to the version adopted during Trump’s first term. The rule would focus on an “economic reality test” that examines a worker’s primary source of income through two fundamental factors: the degree of control the worker has over his work and his opportunity for profit or loss based on initiative, investment, or both.
BAD set a deadline of October 2026 for the independent contractor final rule. It estimated that the rule would provide an “upfront and one-time regulatory familiarization cost” of $488 million that would be offset by savings of nearly $683 million achieved through “increased clarity.”
Separately, the agency confirmed that it continues to work on a proposed rule interpreting the joint employment standards under the FLSA. DOL announced a proposal in April but has yet to provide a timetable for a final rule.
DOL also announced new wage and hour regulation efforts, with a targeted proposal addressing tip credits against the minimum wage requirements of the FLSA. Given an August timetable by the DOL, the proposal would follow up on an area that has been addressed by successive administrations.
One of the most recent such efforts has been undertaken by the Biden administration, which sought to clarify when employers can take a tip credit against FLSA minimum wage requirements for employees who perform both tipped and non-tipped work, also known as “dual work.” A federal judge rejected the proposal, and it was later dismissed.
Another proposal follows a series of moves by state and local governments to ease labor shortages allow younger workers to work more hours. DOL targeted a rulemaking in September to amend its regulatory standards in relation to the FLSA working hours allowed for 14 and 15 year olds.
The EEOC will review the old guidance documents in the enforcement round
The nation’s federal workplace civil rights enforcement agency made headlines in recent weeks when it presented a plan to the White House to finalize annual demographic data reports requirements programs, such as EEO-1. Last week, the agency clarified that it would publish a notice of the proposed rulemaking this month with a public comment period on the proposal ending in September.
“This collection of EEO data was not required by law, but was an agency-created requirement, which imposed a significant financial and administrative burden on American employers, including thousands of small businesses,” the agency said in a statement attached to the OMB notice.
Attorneys who previously spoke to HR Dive generally advised HR departments maintain their EEO-1 reporting processes despite developments, both to prepare for any resumption of the program and to comply with applicable state data collections.
The EEOC also announced the proposed rescission of several decades-old interpretive rules. One of the documents addressed disparate impact liability in the context of national origin discrimination, which follows the Trump administration’s broader efforts end regulators’ reliance on disparate impact generally A similar action would nullify a 1979 Interpretative Rule on Affirmative Action programs
The commission also seeks to rescind a 1979 appendix guidelines on sex discriminationwhich according to the EEOC was written shortly after the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. The agency said the appendix is ”outdated” and predates the 2022 enactment of the Fairness for Pregnant Workers Act.
In a LinkedIn post Monday, Kalpana Kotagal, the EEOC’s only Democratic commissioner, said she voted against the agency’s regulatory changes. Specifically, Kotagal said the potential rollback of EEO-1 reports could “weaken their ability to investigate discrimination,” while the other proposed updates would weaken workers’ civil rights protections.
“I fear that terminations will leave a void that will sow uncertainty for employers and ultimately undermine equal employment opportunity,” Kotagal wrote. “This is an unforced error; we should be standing up for workers, not undermining their civil rights.”
Coming soon: Another update on the H-1B visa program
Employers have already had to adapt to an overhaul of the H-1B visa program for skilled foreign workers. Last year, the Trump administration issued changes in prevailing wages for visa holders, implemented selection criteria based on salary for visa applications and announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas — the latter has been subjected to several legal challenges.
Last week’s regulatory agenda showed that DHS is pursuing even more updates. The agency said it would propose a new rule in August seeking a new reform of the H-1B programincluding reviews of cap waiver eligibility, greater scrutiny of employers who have violated program requirements, and greater oversight of third-party placements.
“These changes are intended to improve the integrity of the H-1B nonimmigrant program and better protect the wages and working conditions of American workers,” DHS said.
