It took awhile, but just before shutting down for the year, the lame duck U.S. Congress and the Biden White House finally reached agreement to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal year (FY) 2023, which began on October 1, 2022.
And for the first time in nearly a decade, several major worksite enforcement agencies received notable funding increases, led by a 9.1% increase for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and an 8.3% increase for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Two agencies within the Department of Labor (DOL) – the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) – did not make out so well, however, with increases of only 2.3% and 3.6%, respectively.
Importantly, the FY 2023 funding bill also contains two employment-related measures that directly impact CWC members: the “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” (PWFA) and the “Providing Urgent Maternal Protection (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act.” Given their importance, we are preparing a separate memo on each of these new laws that we will be issuing in the near future.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.