ASAP
Policy Week in Review – April 11, 2025
At a Glance
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters, as well as Littler’s published in-depth analyses of the prior week.
Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Decision Allowing Reinstatement of NLRB Member Wilcox
On April 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that National Labor Relations Board Member Gwynne Wilcox could return to work while she challenges her removal. On April 8, the Trump administration appealed the April 7 ruling to the Supreme Court. On April 9, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that the Wilcox termination will stay pending resolution of the appeal. The D.C. Circuit is scheduled to hold oral arguments in the case in May. After arguments, the court will decide the case on the merits. For now, the current takeaway is that the Board is (once again) without a quorum and is, therefore, unable to resume normal operations and act on cases.
Former EEOC Commissioner Samuels Challenges Her Termination
Former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels filed a legal challenge on Wednesday against the Trump administration over her termination in January and is seeking reinstatement.
DOL’s Plans for the Independent Contractor Rule
On April 7, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a status report in a pending matter challenging the 2024 independent-contractor final rule. The status report asks the court to hold the case in abeyance pending the Department’s “reconsideration” of the rule and states that the department is prepared to provide periodic status reports as ordered by the court apprising of the agency’s progress. This development marks an indication that the new DOL leadership is looking for a way to roll the rule back.
Dems Reintroduce Legislation to Raise Federal Minimum Wage
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) reintroduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, which would more than double the federal minimum wage rate from $7.25 an hour to $17 an hour by 2030, auto-index future increases to median wage growth, and gradually phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers, youth workers, and wage certificates for workers with disabilities. Congress has rejected previous versions of the legislation and efforts to eliminate the tip credit.
Congressional Hearing on the NLRB, Student-Athletes, and the Future of College Sports
On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), chaired by Representative Rick Allen (R-GA), held a hearing titled, “Game Changer: The NLRB, Student-Athletes, and the Future of College Sports.” The focus of the hearing centered on efforts by activists and the NLRB appointees under the previous administration to deem student-athletes as employees. Littler shareholder Daniel Nash, who has three decades of experience representing the sports industry, testified at hearing and stated, “The law has been very clear that the amount of revenue that an organization receives is not a factor in determining whether someone is or is not an employee. If it were, businesses that lose money could claim that they shouldn’t have to pay their employees. What matters – and the Supreme Court has made this clear many times – is that someone meets the test of the definition of a common law employee. Student-athletes for decades have been recognized as not meeting that test. The fact that revenue has increased in sports like football or basketball shouldn’t be a basis for changing that law.” For additional information, read here.
House Education and Workforce Committee Approves Legislation to Modernize the FLSA
The House Education and Workforce Committee held a markup on Wednesday, approving two bills aimed at modernizing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Flexibility for Workers Education Act would allow employers to offer voluntary professional growth and development opportunities to employees outside of hours worked and without counting toward hours worked. The Empowering Employer Child Care and Elder Solutions Act would encourage employers to offer childcare and elder care benefits to employees by amending the FLSA to exclude child and dependent care services and payments from the rate used to compute overtime compensation.
