Senate Confirms Looman as New DOL Wage and Hour Administrator

October 30, 2023

What's New

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jessica Looman as the Labor Department’s new Wage and Hour Administrator 18 months after she was nominated by President Biden for the job.

Looman was confirmed as Wage and Hour Administrator on a vote of 51 to 46 on October 25, 2023. She has effectively served as head of the Wage and Hour Division since the beginning of the Biden Administration when she was installed as the agency’s Principal Deputy Administrator.

Looman served as the Executive Director of the Minnesota State Building and Construction Trades Council before joining DOL. She also served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, and as General Counsel of the Laborers District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota.

What It Means

The presence of a confirmed administrator is likely to embolden the Wage and Hour Division to take even more aggressive policy and enforcement positions such as moving forward with its controversial proposed changes to the agency’s overtime regulations.

What You Should Do

CWC has provided an updated chart to help members keep track of the status of pending key Biden Administration nominations.

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