Administration Walks Back “Economic Significance” Designation of New Rules

In the latest twist to the Administration’s roll-out of the new “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” rules, OIRA now identifies the rules as Economically Significant (a change from several days ago, discussed here), which means that the administration will have to provide a more detailed assessment of the likely benefits and costs of the regulatory action pursuant to EO 12866. The accompanying DoL guidance is still listed as not Economically Significant, but that may change as the administration continues to struggle with its implementation of these new compliance and reporting obligations, which have been widely criticized for being burdensome and riddled with substantive, legal, and procedural flaws.