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.
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U.S. Department of Education Moves to Strip Discrimination Legal Protections from Pregnant and LGBTQ+ Staff
In an attempt to comply with Trump's executive order on "defending women from gender ideology extremism," the U.S. Department of Education wants to remove the words pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity from the provisions in its union contracts guaranteeing fair promotions and protections against harassment while working in the agency.
Impact:
Pregnant and LGBTQ+ workers are under attack from this administration, and it's clear that the Department of Education has no intention of protecting the civil rights of its employees who are pregnant or LBGTQ+. This is also strong indication that it won't protect the rights of educational employees or students who share these characteristics as well.
Trump Nominates Brittany Panuccio to EEOC
President Trump nominated Brittany Panuccio to be a commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Panuccio is currently an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida. Previously, she worked in the first Trump administration in the Department of Education under Secretary Betsy DeVos and in the Department of Justice supporting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Impact:
At Trump’s direction, EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas has stopped enforcing civil rights laws that protect trans workers, attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, and removed critical resources from the commission’s website. The commission, designed by Congress to be independent and bipartisan, is currently deadlocked at 1-1 due to Trump’s unprecedented firing of Democratic commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels. If Pannucio is confirmed, the EEOC would have a 2-1 Republican majority and the quorum Lucas needs to take votes that could further roll back civil rights in the workplace.
NIOSH Lays Off Most of Its Remaining Staff
The Trump administration is attempting to shut down this important agency, which conducts scientific research into workplace health and safety issues and oversees certification of health and safety equipment.
Impact: Employers and other state and federal agencies rely on NIOSH's research to keep workers safe from occupational hazards. Without NIOSH, workers will be endangered on the job without known ways to mitigate or prevent those dangers.
Trump Proposes Slashing One Third of the Department of Labor’s Budget for FY2026
Under Trump’s budget proposal for FY2026, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) discretionary budget would shrink from its current $13.3 billion to $8.6 billion for next fiscal year.
Impact:
The bulk of the budget cuts would come from the elimination of the Job Corps program and overhauling DOL’s grant programs. The Job Corps program supports young Americans age 16-24 who are not working or currently in school and lack access to the skills needed for gainful employment. The DOL's grants cover areas including skills training, workforce development, and support for vulnerable populations.
Under Trump DOL Will Halt Enforcement of 2024 Independent Contractor Rule, Making it Easier for Employers to Misclassify Workers
The Acting Administrator of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division issued a memo notifying that it will no longer apply the 2024 Independent Contractor (IC) Rule’s analysis when determining employee versus independent contractor status in FLSA investigations.
Impact:
The Wage and Hour division will now revert back to the 2019 guidelines issued by now Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling. The 2024 IC rule has multiple pending legal challenges. The Rule provides guidance for determining who is an IC (and therefore not a protected employee) under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Trump administration reverting to it’s 2019 guidance and will make it easier for employers to misclassify their workers as independent contractors.
Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Pauses Mass Firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
A previous panel authorized layoffs if a "particiularized assessment" was made about each employee and it was decided for valid reasons they could be fired. This appeals panel found that the CFPB rushed to fire people and did not conduct the required assessments.
Impact: The Trump administration is attempting to fire 90% of the staff at the CFPB, essentially shutting down this Congressionally created and authorized agency.
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Executive Order that Attempts to Revoke Federal Union’s Ability to Represent Their Members in Nearly a Dozen Agencies
The court ordered federal agencies to continue bargaining and dealing with the unions that represent federal employees.
Impact: At least for the time being, federal sector employees who are members of unions continue to enjoy all their rights to representation and collective bargaining.
Trump Administration Fires All Employees in the Firefighter Health and Safety Program at NIOSH
This program works to protect firefighters from the harmful effects of toxins, chemicals, and carcinogens that they are exposed to on the job.
Impact: Firefighters already have a 9% higher chance of a cancer diagnosis and a 14% higher chance of dying from cancer than the general population. Without the efforts of this program within NIOSH to protect them, those rates and other health problems will likely increase for our nation's firefighters.
DOL Signals It Will Reconsider the 2024 Biden-era Overtime Regulation
In a filing in the 5th Circuit appeal of the overtime regulation case, DOL requested a stay of the appeal of the overtime regulation defense, stating that it is reconsidering the Biden overtime regulation, signaling that it will likely walk away from defending at least the July 2024 salary threshold increase.
Impact:
Bowing to business pressure, the Trump DOL will likely decline to extend overtime protections to at least three million workers.
OPM Says Agencies Can Fire Probationary Federal Workers Without Cause
According to guidance from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), probationary workers can be fired without performance-related cause.
Impact:
Thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired without cause and subsequently reinstated now face being fired for a second time. The OPM guidance expands upon Trump’s earlier executive order designed to strip job protections from federal workers, including probationary employees.