Melissa Smith
Director of the Division of Regulations, Legislation and Interpretation Wage and Hour Division
U.S. Department of Labor
Room S-3502
200 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20210
Dear Ms. Smith:
The National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) calls on the Department of Labor (DOL) to withdraw immediately the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, RIN 1235-AA21, Tip Regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
A report published by Bloomberg Law this morning stated that DOL prepared and then “shelved” economic analysis demonstrating that workers would lose billions of dollars in wages were the above-referenced NPRM to be finalized and implemented.1 This information is contrary to explicit statements in the NPRM in which the Department stated that that it is “unable to quantify how customers will respond to the proposed regulatory changes” and “currently lacks data to quantify possible reallocations of tips.”
DOL’s decision not to share the analysis described by the Bloomberg Law article is improper and flouts several authorities that govern federal agency rulemaking, including Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 13563, and guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which require that agencies are to quantify costs and benefits of their proposed regulations wherever … Read More