Department of Labor 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed revision to the authority to conduct the information collection request (ICR) titled, ``Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Efforts to Improve Outcomes.'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

This notice is a request for information and/or comment on three reports issued by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) regarding child labor and forced labor in foreign countries. Relevant information submitted by the public will be used by the Department of Labor (DOL) in preparing its ongoing reporting as required under Congressional mandates and a Presidential directive. The 2021 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor report (TDA report), published on September 28, 2022, assesses efforts of 131 countries to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in 2021 and assesses whether countries made significant, moderate, minimal, or no advancement during that year. It also suggests actions foreign countries can take to eliminate the worst forms of child labor through legislation, enforcement, coordination, policies, and social programs. The 2022 edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (TVPRA List), published on September 28, 2022, makes available to the public a list of goods from countries that ILAB has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards, including, to the extent practicable, goods that are produced with inputs that are produced with forced labor or child labor. Finally, the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor (E.O. List), provides a list of products, identified by country of origin, that DOL, in consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State (DOS) and Homeland Security (DHS), has a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or manufactured with forced or indentured child labor. Relevant information submitted by the public will be used by DOL in preparing the next edition of the TDA report, to be published in 2023; the next edition of the TVPRA List, to be published in 2024; and for possible updates to the E.O. List as needed. This notice is also a request for information and/or comment on Comply Chain: Business Tools for Labor Compliance in Global Supply Chains (Comply Chain). ILAB is seeking information on current practices of firms, business associations, and other private sector groups to reduce the likelihood of child labor and forced labor in the production of goods. This information and/or comment is sought to fulfill ILAB's mandate under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA) to work with persons who are involved in the production of goods made with forced labor or child labor. Comply Chain seeks to address this mandate through the creation of a standard set of practices that will reduce the likelihood that such persons will produce goods using forced labor or child labor. Comply Chain also achieves a much broader purpose by actively supporting the efforts of companies that seek to address these issues within their own supply chains. Relevant information and/or comment submitted to ILAB will be used to improve and update Comply Chain to better meet the mandates of the TVPRA and help companies and industry groups seeking to develop robust social compliance systems for their global production.

This notice announces the publication of an updated list of goodsalong with countries of originthat the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) has reason to believe are produced by child labor or forced labor in violation of international standards. ILAB is required to develop and make available to the public the List pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA of 2005), amended.

Notice is hereby given that the Workforce Information Advisory Council (WIAC or Advisory Council) will meet for two days, virtually. Information for public attendance at the virtual meetings will be posted at www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/wioa/wiac/meetings several days prior to each meeting date. The meetings will be open to the public.

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) is issuing this notice to announce the applicable minimum wage rate for workers performing work on or in connection with federal contracts covered by Executive Order 13658, Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors (the Executive Order or the order), beginning January 1, 2023. Beginning on that date, the Executive Order 13658 minimum wage rate that generally must be paid to workers performing work on or in connection with covered contracts will increase to $12.15 per hour, while the required minimum cash wage that generally must be paid to tipped employees performing work on or in connection with covered contracts will increase to $8.50 per hour. Covered contracts that are entered into on or after January 30, 2022, or that are renewed or extended (pursuant to an option or otherwise) on or after January 30, 2022, are generally subject to a higher minimum wage rate established by Executive Order 14026 of April 27, 2021, Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is soliciting comments on the information collection for Hazardous Conditions Complaints.

This notice is a summary of a petition for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the party listed below.

This notice is a summary of a petition for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the party listed below.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is issuing this final rule to rescind its 2020 regulation that established a process under which the Department's Office of Apprenticeship (OA) Administrator (Administrator) was authorized to grant recognition to qualified third-party entities, known as Standards Recognition Entities (SREs), which in turn were authorized to evaluate and extend recognition to Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs). This final rule also makes necessary conforming changes to the regulations governing the registration of apprenticeship programs by the Department.

The Department of Labor's (Department or DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) invites employers and other interested parties to comment on draft guidance, in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), pertaining to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification's (OFLC) assessment of the nature of an employer's need for agricultural labor or services during the review of an H-2A Application for Temporary Employment Certification (H-2A application). ETA's OFLC developed this guidance, and is publishing it for public comment, consistent with a directive from the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) for interpretive guidance clarifying how the Department assesses an H-2A employer's need for agricultural labor or services to determine whether the employer has demonstrated a need of a temporary or seasonal nature, as required for certification. ETA invites the public to review the draft FAQs presented in this notice and provide written comments to OFLC, which will further inform the Department's development of guidance regarding OFLC's assessment of temporary or seasonal need for the H-2A program. The Department will publish this final guidance in the Federal Register.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employment and Training Administration (ETA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

In this notice, OSHA announces the final decision to expand the scope of recognition for UL LLC as a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL).

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employment and Training Administration (ETA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is announcing a public meeting to solicit comments and suggestions from stakeholders on issues facing the agency in the administration of the whistleblower laws it enforces.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is soliciting comments concerning a proposed collection: ``Claim for Schedule Award (CA-9).'' This comment request is part of continuing Departmental efforts to reduce paperwork and respondent burden in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).

This document gives notice of the Department's Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis for a proposed amendment to prohibited transaction class exemption 84-14 (the QPAM Exemption).

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) established six primary indicators of performance for certain WIOA- authorized programs. Currently, the regulations contain definitions for five of the six performance indicators. In the final rule implementing WIOA, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education (the Departments) indicated that they would initially implement the sixth indicator of performanceeffectiveness in serving employersin the form of a pilot program to test the feasibility and rigor of three proposed approaches. With the pilot completed, the Departments are engaging in a rulemaking under RIN 1205-AC01 to incorporate a standard definition of the performance indicator for effectiveness in serving employers into the implementing regulations for the six WIOA core programs. In this related rulemaking, the Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) is proposing to incorporate the same definition of the effectiveness in serving employers performance indicator into regulations for title I non-core programs: the Indian and Native American (INA) programs, the Job Corps program, the YouthBuild programs, and the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP).

The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor (Department) is proposing revisions to the Form LM-10 Employer Report, required under section 203 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA). Employers must file a Form LM-10 Employer Report with the Department to disclose certain payments, expenditures, agreements, and arrangements. The Department proposes to add to the Form LM-10 report a checkbox requiring certain reporting entities to indicate whether such entities were Federal contractors or subcontractors in their prior fiscal year, and two lines for entry of filers' Unique Entity Identifier and Federal contracting agency(ies), if applicable.

This notice is a summary of a petition for modification submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the party listed below.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Employment and Training Administration (ETA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

This document contains an Interpretive Bulletin (IB) setting forth guidelines for determining when a qualified public accountant is independent for purposes of auditing and rendering an opinion on the financial statements required to be included in the annual report filed with the Department of Labor (Department) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). Under ERISA, a plan administrator is generally required to retain, on behalf of all plan participants, an ``independent qualified public accountant'' to conduct an annual examination of the plan's financial statements and to render an opinion as to whether the financial statements are presented fairly in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and whether the schedules required to be included in the plan's annual report present fairly, and in all material respects the information contained therein when considered in conjunction with the financial statements taken as a whole. The purpose of this document is to revise and restate an IB the Department issued in 1975 on accountant independence in order to remove certain outdated and unnecessarily restrictive provisions and reorganize its provisions for clarity while continuing to ensure that the Department's interpretations foster proper auditor independence and access of employee benefit plan to highly qualified auditors and audit firms.

The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.