Last week, the Department of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated regulatory agendas identifying future rulemaking intentions. For both agencies, the key portions of the agendas focus on modifying or removing existing rules restricting employer practices.

The Labor Department agenda includes potential changes to regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions. In recent years, some Republican legislators have complained that hours of service and other restrictions on minors have unfairly hampered family-owned and small businesses in general. DOL’s regulatory agenda includes an exploration of loosening current working hours restrictions for 14- and 15-year-old employees. DOL also indicated interest in exploring changes to the FLSA’s tip credit rules that could allow employers to increase the current offset against minimum wage requirements.

The EEOC’s agenda notes an already announced intent to remove abortion-related medical conditions from protections under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The agency also announced its intent to revisit existing regulatory guidance on national origin and sex discrimination. These efforts could include attempts to emphasize reverse national origin discrimination against U.S. workers, as well as restrictions on inclusion of transgender individuals under Title VII’s prohibitions against sex discrimination. Finally, the EEOC confirmed its decision to eliminate annual EEO-1 reporting of workforce demographics by larger employers.

These regulatory initiatives will require that the agencies go through the formal rulemaking process, including notice and an opportunity for public comment.

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