The Littler WPI Policy Week in Review will pause for the August congressional recess and will return after Labor Day.<\/p>\n
Hiring Slowed to 73,000 Jobs in July\u00a0<\/p>\n
Employment increased by 73,000 jobs in July according to the latest data<\/a> from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate remains at 4.2 percent. The data reveals employment increases in health care and social assistance, with continued federal government job losses. Some economists suggest the labor market slowdown is due to the administration\u2019s evolving changes in trade policies and new tariffs.<\/p>\n Senate Confirms EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas for Second Term\u00a0<\/p>\n The Senate voted 52-45 to confirm the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Acting Chair Andrea Lucas to a second term. The White House nomination of Brittany Panuccio, currently an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, to serve as an EEOC commissioner has advanced to the Senate floor for consideration as she was approved by the Senate HELP Committee on July 24. If she is confirmed, the agency will have the requisite 3-member quorum, with a 2-1 Republican majority, to file lawsuits and make policy changes.<\/p>\n Chair Walberg Urges DOL to Rescind Mining Silica Dust Rule<\/p>\n House Committee on Education and Workforce Chair Tim Walberg (R-MI) wrote a letter<\/a> on July 29 to the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s (DOL) Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recommending the agency consider rescinding the previous administration\u2019s MSHA 2024 rule that set new respiratory protection standards, while ignoring controls already in place to protect miners\u2019 health and safety set by OSHA, which he asserts resulted in undue and excessive regulatory burdens on the mining industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n DOL Issues Guidance Regarding Home Care Providers\u00a0<\/p>\n On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued guidance<\/a> to address a change in enforcement action in the home care industry pending the final version of the Department\u2019s July 2, 2025 proposed rule<\/a> to rescind current regulations issued in 2013, which restricted the definition of \u201ccompanionship services\u201d and prevented employers from claiming exemptions. Specifically, the guidance instructs WHD field staff to immediately suspend enforcement actions begun under the 2013 rule until a final rule is issued. In an effort to increase access to home care and clarify employer obligations, the Department\u2019s proposal seeks to reinstate the companionship services exemption, which covers certain home care workers, from federal minimum wage and overtime rules. The public comment period closes September 2, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n DOL Brings Back PAID Program\u00a0<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Labor announced<\/a> on July 24, 2025, the return of its Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program. The program was initially launched<\/a> in April 2018 to facilitate early resolution of Fair Labor Standards Act compliance issues, but it was discontinued<\/a> in January 2021 after a change in administration. The new version of the PAID program will include some additional requirements compared to the prior program, and it will be expanded to include opportunities to resolve potential violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. For further analysis, read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Presidential Order Aims to Bring Stability to Intercollegiate Sports\u00a0<\/p>\n On July 24, President Trump issued an executive order entitled, \u201cSaving College Sports<\/a>.\u201d The order includes several policy statements and directives with the stated purpose being to provide for the fair treatment of college athletes, including students who participate in women\u2019s and Olympic sports, while allowing the schools and conferences to maintain reasonable rules without the threat of continued litigation. For further analysis, read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Littler WPI Policy Week in Review will pause for the August congressional recess and will return after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-59946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}