Jeffrey (Jeff) H. Ruzal, Member of the Firm in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, was quoted in Law360 Employment Authority, in “4 Questions About DOL Subminimum Wage Rule Proposal,” by Max Kutner. (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

The U.S. Department of Labor's proposal Tuesday to eliminate subminimum wages for workers with disabilities has wage and hour observers wondering whether such a rule would survive the next presidential administration …

Other attorneys pointed out that the issue isn't as broadly opposed by Republicans as some other wage and hour topics.

"This is not an issue that is as politically charged as, say, overtime or independent contractors," said Jeffrey Ruzal of management-side firm Epstein Becker Green, a former DOL trial attorney. "It's a trickier field to navigate, which is why I don't know that we're going to have Republicans as vocal in their opposition toward it." …

Does DOL Have Authority? …

"I don't know that it's going to be the same climate that we've seen with the final overtime rule most recently," Epstein Becker Green's Ruzal said, referring to consolidated cases that resulted in a Texas federal court's invalidation of a rule in November.

Ruzal, whose firm represented challengers to another Biden-era wage rule, added that it's unclear if "it's going to go without challenge, either." …

Will Three-Year Window Narrow?

The DOL is calling for an up to three-year period for current 14(c) certificate holders to stop using the program. But the agency said it is open to feedback on whether that amount is too long or too short.

Ruzal said that issue could play out in the comments for the rule.

Worker advocates could argue in comments that three years is too long a period, he said.

At the same time, he said, "those businesses that might seek to comment negatively on the proposed final rule will likely focus on the fact that a three-year window is not nearly long enough for them to recalibrate their workforce."

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