Wage and Hour just got a permanent boss. On October 7, the Senate confirmed Andrew Rogers to run the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. That means faster decisions, clearer direction, and more consistency across investigations.
If you own or operate a business, here is what matters in plain English.
What this Signals
Clearer Guidance: Expect more practical answers on everyday issues like regular rate, travel time, rounding, meal and rest deductions, and tip rules. Fewer gray areas means fewer surprises for payroll.
Steadier Enforcement: Field teams will keep moving. If a pay practice is sloppy or undocumented, assume it will be tested. Clean documentation is your friend.
Attention on Who is An Employee: Independent contractor calls and joint-employer questions are not going away. Decisions here can change who belongs on payroll and who shares liability across brands or vendor relationships.
Your 30-Day Plan
1) Tighten Timekeeping and Overtime Math
Check rounding, auto-deductions, bonus and commission inputs to the regular rate, travel and training time. Fix gaps and retrain managers. Write it down.
2) Map 1099s and Vendor-Supplied Labor
List the roles, note who directs the work, and flag anything that looks like core operations. Build a simple conversion plan with titles and loaded costs so you can pivot fast.
3) Reduce Joint-Employer Optics
If you are a franchise, holdco, or you use onsite vendors, be explicit about who controls schedules, supervision, and pay rules. Update contracts and playbooks. Train field leaders.
4) Choose your Resolution Path
For small, well-defined issues, a supervised fix can be faster and cheaper. For anything with state-law exposure, talk to counsel about a private remediation plan. Decide criteria now.
5) Document Good-Faith
Keep clean files: policies, approvals, training records, and the reasoning behind your decisions. If you rely on agency guidance, save it with your notes.
Who Andrew Rogers is, and Why Owners Should Care
Rogers brings experience on both sides of the table. Policy and enforcement. That mix usually means clearer expectations, quicker answers, and a tighter feedback loop from field investigations to real-world guidance. In short: more signal, less noise.
How VertiSource HR Can Help
- Rapid Wage & Hour Checkups: We test your real scenarios and hand back a prioritized fix list with cost and impact.
- Labor-Model Planning: Clear risk maps for contractors and joint-employer exposure, plus day-one conversion plans if standards move.
- Resolution Playbooks: When to use supervised fixes, when to remediate privately, and how to preserve good-faith defenses with tight documentation.
Ready for a quick read-out on your risk? We can scope a two-week checkup and deliver a simple, owner-ready action plan.
