Worker-safety advocates, along with congressional Democrats, say Trump administration officials have relied on unscientific data to support the rollback some regulations. (Photo: Mike Scarcella/ALM)

The last year or two has been rife with labor regulation changes, giving  hr and compliance departments plenty to stay busy. How many of these regulatory changes have a valid argument behind them? An investigation by the Department of Labor's inspector general into the steamroller rollbacks of regulations aimed at protecting workers by the Trump administration is taking a closer look.

NBC News reports that DOL IG Scott Dahl is investigating the process the administration is using for rolling back regulations, after allegations that officials are unraveling protections without following proper procedures.

Dahl wrote to congressional Democrats who had asked for an audit of the move that his office will incorporate an investigation of a rollback of a child labor regulation into “a broader review of the rule-making process at DOL.”

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“The objective of this review is to determine how well DOL manages the issuance of regulations,” Dahl wrote in the Jan. 25 letter, also citing the IG's efforts to examine “the integrity of the rule-making process” in the department's worker health and safety division.

Already under investigation is the DOL's treatment of a proposal that would have allowed restaurant managers and owners to put workers' tips into a tip-sharing pool that includes bosses. Other actions are under legal challenge, including the undoing of an Obama-era regulation that required some employers to electronically submit detailed reports of workplace injuries, and actions to make it easier for small businesses and the self-employed to buy health insurance that does not comply with the Affordable Care Act.

“Inspector General Dahl's response is a welcome step toward ensuring that the Department of Labor is truly acting in the interests of young workers in hospitals and nursing homes,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, told NBC News. “This is not the first time in recent memory that the department has tried to roll back workers' rights on the basis of questionable or hidden evidence, so I am glad that the inspector general is taking a broad look at the department's rule-making processes as well.”

Worker-safety advocates, along with congressional Democrats, say Trump administration officials have relied on unscientific data to support the rollback of the child labor regulation, which both jeopardizes the department's credibility and is in violation of federal rule-making laws.

For its part, the administration claimed in its proposal to change the regulation that the rollback would add more than 23,000 young workers to the health care system without endangering them. It disputes data cited by worker-safety advocates that allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to operate power-driven patient lifts without supervision endangers both the young workers and the patients.

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