The Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) ceased operations as of March 2016. The majority of work and materials has been passed on to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO). This site is being maintained as an archive of materials produced.
Last week, the White House announced a long-anticipated new rule that upgrades Americans' access to overtime pay. Worker advocates, economists, and unions have been working with the Obama administration and U.S. Department of Labor for years to modernize the rules on overtime, and thanks to their efforts, millions of salaried employees will be paid for the work they do beyond the standard 40 hours per week.
Workers’ compensation is a state-based government program that has protected American workers for close to a century. Throughout the early part of U.S. history, injured workers were taken care of by the communities they were a part of: churches, worker’s benevolence associations, neighbors, or extended family. But when workplace deaths and injuries soared during the industrial revolution, government stepped in to help.
New proposals on the state, local, and federal levels aim to tackle inconsistent hours, haphazard scheduling practices, and on-call shifts among part-time workers. Such practices can wreak havoc on workers' finances, families, and health.
On April 23, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez announced new rules limiting the amount of coal dust that miners can be exposed to. The new standards, effective Aug. 1, are aimed at eliminating black lung disease caused by exposure to high amounts of coal dust.
During Workers' Memorial Day on April 28, the country will honor Americans who have died from a job-related illness or injury. Relevant to that commemoration is the Department of Labor's online enforcement database, which sheds light on safety enforcement actions and company performance in protecting workers from injury, illness, and death.
The Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule on Sept. 17 to increase the wage protections afforded to home care workers. The rule, first proposed nearly two years ago, will bring more domestic service workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime provisions.
