Policy Week in Review – July 24, 2026

Senate HELP Committee Postpones Vote on Labor Secretary Nominee Keith Sonderling

Because of Committee member attendance issues, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) was forced to postpone its vote this week to advance the nomination of Keith Sonderling to be the secretary of labor. The Committee is now scheduled to hold an executive session on Thursday, July 30 at 9:45am ET to vote on Sonderling’s nomination and other agenda items. 

DOL/WHD Issues New Opinion Letters 

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) issued two new opinion letters this week addressing the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to specific issues arising from employee commuter travel. According to the WHD’s announcement, the letters include the following: 

• FLSA2026-9: Whether mid-day travel between an employee’s home and work office is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA, where the employee performs work at both locations and the mid-day travel is offered as a voluntary alternative to unpaid commuter travel that would otherwise occur before or after the employee’s workday. For Littler’s analysis, read here.
• FLSA2026-10: Whether time spent by an employee receiving pages, calling clients and other workers to schedule appointments, and driving from home to the first client appointment is worktime that an employer must record and pay for under the FLSA.

DOL/EBSA Proposes Rule to Digitize Group Health Plan Disclosures

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) issued a proposed rule that would allow group health plan administrators to make required disclosures to plan participants and beneficiaries electronically on a website. According to the agency, the measure is designed to improve communications, efficiencies, and reduce administrative costs.

House Committee Advances Labor and Workforce Bills

On July 21, the House Committee on Education and Workforce approved a package of 10 bills. Notably, the package includes the “American Franchise Act,” which would codify a direct and immediate control joint employment standard specific to the franchise industry; the “Ending Predator Access to Union Power Act,” which would bar individuals convicted of sex offenses against minors from holding union leadership positions or serving as employer labor consultants; and the “Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025,” which would block the U.S. Department of Labor from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing the Biden-era proposed standard titled, “Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings” published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on August 30, 2024. For a complete list, read here. These bills are expected to be considered on the House floor in the coming weeks.

EEOC Proposes to Rescind All EEO Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements

On July 21, 2026, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission voted to approve a proposed rule that would rescind a series of agency demographic reporting requirements, most notably the EEO-1 Form, which private employers of 100 or more employees have been required to file for decades. Read Littler’s analysis here.