Trump's Labor Department proposes more than 60 rule changes in a push to
deregulate workplaces
[July 22, 2025] By
CATHY BUSSEWITZ
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Labor is aiming to rewrite or
repeal more than 60 “obsolete” workplace regulations, ranging from
minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with
disabilities to standards governing exposure to harmful substances.
If approved, the wide-ranging changes unveiled this month also would
affect working conditions at constructions sites and in mines, and limit
the government's ability to penalize employers if workers are injured or
killed while engaging in inherently risky activities such as movie
stunts or animal training.
The Labor Department says the goal is to reduce costly, burdensome rules
imposed under previous administrations, and to deliver on President
Donald Trump's commitment to restore American prosperity through
deregulation.
“The Department of Labor is proud to lead the way by eliminating
unnecessary regulations that stifle growth and limit opportunity,”
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement, which
boasted the “most ambitious proposal to slash red tape of any department
across the federal government.”
Critics say the proposals would put workers at greater risk of harm,
with women and members of minority groups bearing a disproportionate
impact.
"People are at very great risk of dying on the job already,” Rebecca
Reindel, the AFL-CIO union's occupational safety and health director,
said. “This is something that is only going to make the problem worse.”
The proposed changes have several stages to get through before they can
take effect, including a public comment period for each one.
Here's a look at some of the rollbacks under consideration:
No minimum wage for home health care workers
Home health care workers help elderly or medically fragile people by
preparing meals, administering medications, assisting with toilet use,
accompanying clients to doctor appointments and performing other tasks.
Under one of the Labor Department's proposals, an estimated 3.7 million
workers employed by home care agencies could be paid below the federal
minimum wage — currently $7.25 per hour — and made ineligible for
overtime pay if they aren't covered by corresponding state laws.
The proposed rule would reverse changes made in 2013 under former
President Barack Obama and revert to a regulatory framework from 1975.
The Labor Department says that by lowering labor and compliance costs,
its revisions might expand the home care market and help keep frail
individuals in their homes for longer.
Judy Conti, director of government affairs at the National Employment
Law Project, said her organization plans to work hard to defeat the
proposal. Home health workers are subject to injuries from lifting
clients, and "before those (2013) regulations, it was very common for
home care workers to work 50, 60 and maybe even more hours a week,
without getting any overtime pay,” Conti said.
Others endorse the proposal, including the Independent Women’s Forum, a
conservative nonprofit based in Virginia. Women often bear the brunt of
family caregiving responsibilities, so making home care more affordable
would help women balance work and personal responsibilities, the group's
president, Carrie Lukas, said.
“We’re pleased to see the Trump administration moving forward on rolling
back some of what we saw as counterproductive micromanaging of
relationships that were making it hard for people to get the care they
need,” Lukas said.
Samantha Sanders, director of government affairs and advocacy at the
nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, said the repeal would not
constitute a win for women.
“Saying we actually don’t think they need those protections would be
pretty devastating to a workforce that performs really essential work
and is very heavily dominated by women, and women of color in
particular,” Sanders said.
Protections for migrant farm workers
Last year, the Labor Department finalized rules that provided
protections to migrant farmworkers who held H-2A visas. The current
administration says most of those rules placed unnecessary and costly
requirements on employers.
Under the new proposal, the Labor Department would rescind a requirement
for most employer-provided transportation to have seat belts for those
agriculture workers.
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Construction workers frame up a roof of wood lumber at a new home
build, April 1, 2025, in Laveen, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin,
File)
 The department is also proposing to
reverse a 2024 rule that protected migrant farmworkers from
retaliation for activities such as filing a complaint, testifying or
participating in an investigation, hearing or proceeding.
“There’s a long history of retaliation against workers who speak up
against abuses in farm work. And with H-2A it’s even worse because
the employer can just not renew your visa,” said Lori Johnson,
senior attorney at Farmworker Justice.
Michael Marsh, president and CEO of the National Council of
Agricultural Employers, applauded the deregulation efforts, saying
farmers were hit with thousands of pages of regulations pertaining
to migrant farmworkers in recent years.
“Can you imagine a farmer and his or her spouse trying to navigate
3,000 new pages of regulation in 18 months and then be liable for
every one of them?" he asked.
Adequate lighting for construction spaces
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the Labor
Department, wants to rescind a requirement for employers to provide
adequate lighting at construction sites, saying the regulation
doesn't substantially reduce a significant risk.
OSHA said if employers fail to correct lighting deficiencies at
construction worksites, the agency can issue citations under its
“general duty clause.” The clause requires employers to provide a
place of employment free from recognized hazards which are likely to
cause death or serious physical harm.
Worker advocates think getting rid of a specific construction site
requirement is a bad idea. “There have been many fatalities where
workers fall through a hole in the floor, where there’s not adequate
lighting,” Reindel said. “It’s a very obvious thing that employers
should address, but unfortunately it’s one of those things where we
need a standard, and it’s violated all the time.”
Mine safety
Several proposals could impact safety procedures for mines. For
example, employers have to submit plans for ventilation and
preventing roof collapses in coal mines for review by the Labor
Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration. Currently, MSHA
district managers can require mine operators to take additional
steps to improve those plans.
The Labor Department wants to end that authority, saying the current
regulations give the district manager the ability to draft and
create laws without soliciting comments or action by Congress.
Similarly, the department is proposing to strip district managers of
their ability to require changes to mine health and safety training
programs.
Limiting OSHA’s reach
The general duty clause allows OSHA to punish employers for unsafe
working conditions when there's no specific standard in place to
cover a situation.
An OSHA proposal would exclude the agency from applying the clause
to prohibit, restrict or penalize employers for “inherently risky
professional activities that are intrinsic to professional,
athletic, or entertainment occupations.”
A preliminary analysis identified athletes, actors, dancers,
musicians, other entertainers and journalists as among the types of
workers the limitation would apply to.
“It is simply not plausible to assert that Congress, when passing
the Occupational Safety and Health Act, silently intended to
authorize the Department of Labor to eliminate familiar sports and
entertainment practices, such as punt returns in the NFL, speeding
in NASCAR, or the whale show at SeaWorld,” the proposed rule reads.
Debbie Berkowitz, who served as OSHA chief of staff during the Obama
administration, said she thinks limiting the agency's enforcement
authority would be a mistake.
“Once you start taking that threat away, you could return to where
they’ll throw safety to the wind, because there are other production
pressures they have," Berkowitz said.
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