The recently-proposed FY 2011 budget for the Department of Labor requests $117 billion in funds, including $13.9 billion in “discretionary funding.” Although the $117 billion request is less than what the DOL received last year, the DOL has requested $1.7 billion for worker protection programs, up 4% from last year.
The DOL’s proposal includes a plan to hire at least 350 employees, and more than half of them would work in investigations and enforcement. The DOL has expressed a commitment to increasing its efforts in several areas, including Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) compliance and worker misclassification. In fact, the proposed budget includes a request for $25 million for a joint initiative between the DOL and the Treasury Department to combat misclassification of employees as independent contractors. This initiative proposes to add an additional 90 employees in the DOL’s wage and hour division as well as 10 employees to support litigation efforts by the Solicitor of Labor. The OFCCP intends to hire additional staff as well to maintain its aggressive investigation and enforcement efforts.
While some praise the administration’s efforts to enhance worker protection programs, others have suggested that, given the current state of the economy, these programs may unjustifiably burden and punish employers. It will be interesting to see how the DOL’s proposed budget compares to the budget that eventually is approved by Congress. We’ll be sure to provide updates as developments occur.
Tags: Barack Obama, budget, Department of Labor, independent contractors, legislation, OFCCP, worker misclassification