Worker Policy Watch
Your source for accurate and reliable information on how federal policies are shaping workers’ rights—and what’s at stake for working people nationwide under the Trump administration.
Search tracker
DOL Wage and Hour Division Releases Opinion Letter re: Family and Medical Leave Act Calculations
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division releases opinion letter to clarify application of federal labor standards for calculating Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave for correctional law enforcement workers under a “Pitman schedule” of work.
Impact:
Wage and Hour Division opinion letter FMLA2025-02-A indicates that in determining the appropriate amount of an employee’s FMLA leave entitlement, an employer may convert the workweek to its hourly equivalent in a manner that equitably reflects the employee’s total normally scheduled hours.
DOL Wage and Hour Division Releases Opinion Letter re: Joint Employment
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division releases opinion letter to clarify application of federal labor standards for joint employment at a hotel’s “members club” and restaurant.
Impact:
Wage and Hour Division opinion letter FLSA-2025-05 indicates that both the restaurant and members club are jointly liable for all aspects of FLSA compliance for its joint employment staff.
DOL Wage and Hour Division Releases Opinion Letter re: Emergency Pay for Firefighters and City Workers
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division releases opinion letter to clarify application of federal labor standards for “emergency pay” for firefighters and other city employees and overtime pay.
Impact:
Wage and Hour Division opinion letter FLSA2025-04 indicates that emergency pay for firefighters and other city employees at issue does not qualify as a discretionary bonus that may be excluded from an employee’s regular rate of pay.
DOL Wage and Hour Division Releases Opinion Letter re: Oyster Shuckers Tip Pool
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division releases opinion letter to clarify application of federal labor standards for "front of house" oyster shuckers.
Impact:
Wage and Hour Division opinion letter FLSA2025-03 indicates that employers may require employees for whom the employer takes a tip credit to share tips in a tip pool with the front-of-house oyster shuckers.
Trump Orders Payment of $100,000 for Any New Visas Issued to Foreign Workers in Certain Highly Skilled Professions
This payment is designed to try to stem abuse of this program and instead make sure employers make adequate efforts to fill the positions with people already living in the United States.
Impact: With the new fee applying only to new visas and not to existing visa holders, it remains to be seen just how effective the new policy will be.
Trump Issues “The Gold Card” Executive Order, Allowing People and Employers To Purchase Immigration Visas for $1 Million and $2 Million Respectively
Visas are very hard to come by, with many people waiting more than a decade to immigrate to the United States to escape oppressive conditions and be reunited with family members.
Impact: The United States will now start the unseemly practice of selling visas to those who can afford to spend exhorbitant amounts of money, rather than those who have waited in line and have compelling reasons to immigrate.
Immigration Raids and Audits Impacting Workers and Elevating Risks to Businesses
Aggressive Trump administration immigration policy is putting businesses and gig corporations and their workforces on edge as companies anticipate a hiring squeeze.
Impact:
More than two dozen quarterly or annual filings from companies over the last month have revealed deep anxiety over civil penalties, workplace raids, and worker shortages in many sectors, as a result of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Impacts are being felt and anticipated in science and technology sectors as well as in app-based or gig corporations. In some cities, up to 90 percent of ridehail drivers on digital labor platforms are immigrants, according to some reports.
U.S. Labor Force Has Lost 1.2 Million Immigrant Workers This Year, New Report Finds
A Pew Research Center analysis of Census data has found that 1.2 million immigrant workers left the U.S. labor force between January and July 2025. That total is inclusive of both documented and undocumented immigrants.
Impact:
Immigrant workers contribute to job growth and overall economic strength, and make up nearly 20% of the U.S. workforce. Businesses in industries that disproportionately rely on immigrant workers, like agriculture, construction, and care work, are particularly hard hit, with reports of wasted crops and construction slowdowns.
Federal Appeals Court Threatens NLRB’s Constitutionality
Trump-appointed Fifth Circuit judge Don Willet authored a ruling finding that the structure of the National Labor Relations Board is likely unconstitutional. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is among the corporations which have sued in federal court, seeking to avoid accountability for alleged violations of federal labor law by attempting to gut the NLRB’s authority.
Impact: The court kept in place injunctions freezing the NLRB’s enforcement actions against the companies, so the workers in those cases will not be made whole. The Supreme Court may soon have an opportunity to weigh in on the constitutional question, which would have huge implications for bedrock labor rights in America.
NLRB Acting General Counsel Pressures States to Halt Labor Enforcement Measures
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) Acting General Counsel William Cowen issued a statement pushing states not to pass laws that would provide for state-level enforcement of bedrock labor rights. Trump has severely hamstrung the Board through the unprecedented and partisan removal of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the agency unable to act as a backlog of hundreds of cases build up and workers without the recourse they are entitled to under the law.
Impact:
The Trump administration is trying to have it both ways – paralyzing the NLRB and insisting that only the NLRB can protect labor rights. As a result, workers across the country are more vulnerable to exploitation, retaliation, and other union-busting tactics. The law makes it clear that protecting the right of workers to act collectively in their workplaces is the policy of the United States, and the Trump administration is once again ignoring the law in favor of the interests of corporations and the wealthy.