Fast-food executive and attorney Andrew Puzder, expected to bePresident-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. LaborDepartment, is a sharp critic of Obama administration regulationswhose appointment could roll back efforts to expand corporateliability and raise worker wages.

Related: What are the implications for compensationunder Trump?

Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc., a privatelyheld company that owns Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, has spoken outagainst Obama administration’s updated overtime rules and effortsto raise the minimum wage. He also has criticized the newjoint-employer standard, which broadened the scope of laborliability for companies closely associated.

Puzder, who would replace Secretary Thomas Perez, began hiscareer as general counsel at Fidelity National Financial, accordingto Puzder's LinkedIn bio, before becoming the personalattorney of Carl’s Jr. founder, Carl Karcher. He took over asgeneral counsel of CKE in 1997 and ascended to the CEO spot threeyears later.

Trump has not formally announced his pick for Labor. A source familiar with thematter confirmed that Puzder was the expected nominee. TheAssociated Press said Trump was expected to make the announcementThursday.

Attorneys who represent employer interests praised Puzder as a“refreshing” choice as the first business leader in recent memorychosen to lead the Labor Department. But labor advocates and someDemocrats strongly condemned Trump’s expected pick, indicatingPuzder may face a confirmation challenge in the Senate.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, said in a statement:“Turning the Labor Department over to someone who opposes anincrease in the minimum wage, opposes the overtime rule that wouldraise middle class wages, and whose businesses have repeatedlyviolated labor laws might be the surest sign yet that the nextcabinet will be looking out for the billionaires and specialinterests, instead of America’s working class.”

Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women andFamilies, called Trump’s pick “appalling.” Puzder, she said, is “astunning and unwelcome departure from the dedicated and powerfulchampions who have held that post in recent years, and who havehelped advance policies like fair pay, paid sick days and paidfamily and medical leave that are critical to the well-being ofworkers and families, businesses and our economy.”

Puzder: 'Industry is under attack'

As CEO, Puzder, who keeps a blog on labor issues and co-authored a 2011book titled Job Creation: HowIt Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It, hasspoken widely against pro-employee labor regulation and its effectson the fast-food industry.

In a November 2014 appearance on Fox News’ Varney & Co., hesaid that regulatory costs are “way up” under Obama and said that“industry is under attack” by the administration.

In a May 2016 Forbes editorial, he criticized the DOL for a rulethat it proposed expanding overtime, saying that it would lead toincreased regulatory expenses and hurt employee pay and benefitswhen employers try to offset these new costs.

Currently, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers arerequired by law to pay nonexempt employees time-and-a-half forworking more than 40 hours per week only if the employees earn lessthan $23,660 per year. But with the DOL overtime rule—which was temporarilyenjoined by a Texas federal court last month— an estimated 4million additional employees would be eligible for mandatoryovertime, as the exempt salary threshold would be raised to$47,476, as reported in sibling publication Corporate Counsel.

“One can only wonder when the advocates of progressive economicswill realize that, despite their best efforts, you cannot regulateyour way to economic prosperity,” Puzder wrote in the Forbes piece.

Related: Here's how employers are preparing for theovertime rule

The appeal will be expedited, at the request of the LaborDepartment, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Puzder has also been a harsh critic of the Obamaadministration’s support of the joint employer standard. Throughregulation at the National Labor Relations Board and the LaborDepartment, the administration has worked to expand the definitionof “joint employer.” Two companies working together—for instance, acompany and its staffing agency or contractor, or a franchisor andfranchisee—can both be held accountable for the alleged laborviolations of one employer.

The would-be labor nominee, whose company has franchiseagreements for restaurants around the U.S. and in foreigncountries, held forth on the joint employer standard a July 2014Wall Street Journal editorial, saying the system would “destroy thebusiness model” of the fast-food industry.

Marshall Babson, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw’s New York andWashington offices, who represents employers, sat on a panel withPuzder at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event looking at the jointemployer issue last spring. Babson said he was “very impressed”with the CEO’s understanding of the legal and business issuesimplicated by the expansion of the joint employer standard.

“He understands the adverse impacts that this overly aggressiveand arguably unsupportable test can have on businesses,” Babsonsaid, adding there’s “not a doubt” in his mind that Puzder wouldtry to pull back the standard as head of the Labor Department.

Clear views on minimum wages, automation, ACA

Puzder has made his views clear on another hot-button issue—theminimum wage—as well. Although attempts to raise the wage havefailed on a federal level, many states have voted to raise it—insome cases as high as $15 per hour.

In his Varney & Co appearance, Puzder said that “you raisethe minimum wage but some jobs aren’t worth $15.” He has alsotalked about bringing down labor costs as minimum wage rises insome areas by possibly replacing some fast-food workers withautomation at CKE restaurants.

"They're always polite, they always upsell, they never take avacation,” he told Business Insider in March, speaking of themachines. “They never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall,or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.”

Puzder has called for a repeal of the Affordable Care Act as well,putting him in line with other Trump nominees. Trump himself calledfor a repeal of the ACA on the campaign trail, but has since saidhe would keep parts of the ACA intact.

Steven Bernstein, a partner at Fisher & Phillips’ Tampaoffice who represents employers, said that as the first businessleader in recent memory to head the department, Puzder’s leadershipwould be “unique and refreshing.”

Bernstein, who does not know Puzder personally, said there is aperception among employers that the Obama Labor Department was tooquick to impose regulations without fully assessing job creationand costs. “It’s encouraging and new that perhaps we’ll see aleader who understand the importance of regulation in moderation,”he said.

Puzder’s nomination could pose questions about whether histenure at the head of a major fast-food company poses conflicts ofinterest.

CKE Restaurants owns or franchises more than 3,250 restaurantsin the U.S. and 26 foreign countries, generates $1.3 billion inannual revenue and with franchises employs more than 70,000 peoplein the U.S, according to the company’s website.

According to Bloomberg BNA, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’sdatabase, which only includes closed investigations, shows that thedivision has looked into 108 CKE-affiliated stores since 2004, butthe vast majority of stores investigated have been run byfranchisees, not by the company itself. The department toldBloomberg there is one outstanding CKE wage and hour investigationagainst a Hardee’s that appears to be run by franchisees.

Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project atthe Center for Economic and Policy Research, said that althoughPuzder could sidestep some of the legal concerns around his chiefexecutive position by divesting his holdings in CKE or creating ablind trust, he is still “inextricably connected” to the companyand industry on other ways, even if his money is not.

“Do I think that someone can retain an interest in the companyeven after being divested when they are as closely tiedreputationally [to that company] as Puzder is?” said Hauser. “Iwould say, ‘Yes.’ ”