Presidential elections in the United States can have a significant impact on how laws are enforced or changed from one administration to the next, especially where the political party of the President switches as a result of the election, as in 2020. With the Biden administration beginning its transition to take over the White House from the Trump administration, many people have wondered or speculated about what changes might be in store over the next four years.
The Biden administration itself has provided an overview of its agenda and plans in these regards. See Biden Agenda for Empowering Workers. The Biden administration has stated it intends to pursue the following potential changes to wage and hour related laws while in the White House:
- Working with Congress to establish a federal standard for addressing concerns about employee misclassification, for purposes of all labor, employment, and tax laws, that is modeled on the ABC Test;
- Restoring FLSA overtime regulations that were updated during the Obama administration;
- Increasing prevailing wage protections on infrastructure and transportation projects or service jobs involving federal investment;
- Working with Congress to eliminate use of non-compete and no-poaching agreements, with a narrow exception for agreements that are absolutely necessary to protect trade secrets; and
- Working with Congress to increase the federal minimum wage to $15.00 per hour.
The Biden administration has also stated it intends to pursue other significant changes that would have a substantial impact on wage and hour issues and employment more generally, such as ending employer use of mandatory arbitration agreements and removing unnecessary occupational licensing requirements. Time will tell what, if any, changes the Biden administration will be able to achieve in these regards. Stay tuned for further developments.