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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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.
The Centers for Disease Control End Telework for Workers With Disabilities Who Need Reasonable Accommodations
The federal government is required to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities so they can perform their jobs. Often, teleworking is the most effective accommodation.
Impact: Once the current accommodations expire, workers with disabilities will find it much more difficult to continue working at the CDC, perhaps leading to further reductions in an already depleted and much needed workforce.
EEOC Acting Chair Plans Agency Reorganization, Including Elimination of Data Office
EEOC Acting Chair Andrea Lucas informed lawmakers of her intention to restructure the agency. Changes include the elimination of the Office of Enterprise and Data Analytics (OEDA) and transferring outreach, education, and training functions to the Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs. Lucas claims that the plans do not involve cutting any functions or staff.
Impact:
OEDA handled important EEOC data efforts like the EEO-1 workforce demographic data collection. And transferring important functions to the Office of Communication and Legislative Affairs brings them under more direct political control of Lucas and her appointees. Even without quorum or a voting majority on the commission, Lucas has sought to roll back many of the agency’s key functions and initiatives, and that context demands scrutiny for these planned changes.
FTC Abandons Defense of the Noncompete Rule Amidst Legal Challenge
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has withdrawn notices of appeal that involved challenges to its proposed rule to ban most non-compete agreements.
Impact:
Under the Biden administration in 2024, the FTC issued a rule that would have banned virtually all new non-competes for all workers. A federal court in Texas blocked the rule from taking effect nationwide, ruling that the FTC exceeded its authority, and the FTC filed an appeal of the court’s decision. The Trump administration effectively ended the federal ban on non-competes when it announced on September 5th that it was withdrawing the appeal.
Almost Half a Million Federal Workers Lose Union Rights Under Trump
More than 445,000 federal workers have been stripped of their union rights and protections in response to two executive orders issued by the Trump administration.
Impact:
The first executive order signed in March had been challenged by five labor unions who have sued the Trump administration over the order. On August 1st an appeals court ruling resulted in the loss of protection against that executive order for millions of federal workers. Last week, Trump signed an additional executive order stripping union rights and protections from federal workers at six other federal agencies.
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.
Whiplash at State Department as Almost 100 New Hires Join Ranks After Hundreds Laid Off
10 weeks after over one thousand workers were laid off, including 250 foreign service officers, the State Department has issued hiring notices to almost 100 new employees who will join the foreign service class beginning September 22nd.
Impact:
Impacted State Department workers cited confusion and noted the wastefulness of the recent firings in light of the recent hires, given the significant investments the department makes in training and professional development.
U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposed Rulemaking that Will Jeopardize Privacy of UI Applicants
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would change the disclosure of Unemployment Compensation (UC) information from “permissible” to “required” when requested by federal officials for the purposes of oversight and audits.
Impact:
The Trump administration argues that this change will better allow agencies to investigate complex fraud schemes more effectively. The notice of proposed rulemaking will be open to public comment for 30 days starting September 1st. States have a lot of confidential data about UI applicants and recipients and there are no details in the proposal about how this data will be used and how it will be protected, raising serious privacy and other concerns about this proposal.
Trump Plans One Percent Pay Increase For Most Federal Workers for 2026
The Trump administration has announced a plan to raise pay by only one percent for most federal workers for 2026, with federal law enforcement and the military receiving 3.8 percent increases.
Impact:
The Trump administration had previously announced that it would freeze pay increases for civilian federal workers for 2026, despite a planned surge of hiring for federal law enforcement agencies. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will now decide which categories of federal law enforcement employees will receive a 3.8% base pay increase, in line with anticipated military pay raises but in stark contrast to the rest of the civilian federal workforce, which will fall behind in wages relative to the cost of living.