U.S. Senate Confirms New DOL Wage & Hour Division Administrator

In an October 25, 2023 vote along mostly partisan lines (51–46), the U.S. Senate confirmed Jessica Looman as administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). Administrator Looman has essentially been unofficially leading WHD since the start of the Biden Administration, serving as the agency’s “principal deputy administrator” since early 2021. An effort late last year to have Looman confirmed through unanimous consent was unsuccessful.

Looman previously worked as the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce and executive director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council, representing 70,000 union construction workers.

Her confirmation vote comes at a key time for the WHD. In late August 2023, the Department of Labor proposed new regulations that would substantially increase the number of workers who would be eligible for overtime compensation. Administrator Looman will also undoubtedly play a large role in the finalization and implementation of WHD’s pending changes to its independent contractor classification rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act, among other issues. Both are proposed rules which are likely to impact agency labor costs. The 4As submitted written comments to both rules here and here, respectively. A final overtime rule is likely expected in Q1 or Q2 2024, whereas a final independent contractor rule could come in Q4 2023 or Q1 2024. 

In March 2022, the U.S. Senate rejected Biden’s first choice to lead DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Brandeis University professor David Weil.

Have questions about DOL leadership and the regulatory priorities of the agency? Please contact Amanda Anderson, 4As VP of Government Relations.