U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta has appointed three new members to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Administrative Review Board (ARB), filling three of the five current vacancies on the Board and more importantly giving the ARB a quorum to once again begin hearing cases and issuing decisions, including on appeals of two high-profile administrative law judge (ALJ) decisions in cases brought by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
The ARB when fully staffed is a five-member tribunal, whose members are appointed by the Labor Secretary, that functions like an appeals court within DOL, and that makes final administrative determinations in contested decisions issued by the Department’s ALJs. These include ALJ rulings in enforcement proceedings brought by OFCCP.
The ARB has not issued a decision since July of 2018, when as the result of term expirations, the Board was left with just one member, whose term also has since expired. Now with a quorum of three members, the ARB can resume hearing cases. As noted, there are still two vacancies.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.