DOJ Forced Labor Agency to Issue Flawed Tips Rule: Watchdog (2)

The Justice Department’s Office of the Solicitor General ordered U.S. Labor Department leadership in 2017 to issue a contentious tip-pooling proposal and urged DOL to bury an economic analysis projecting the rule’s effect on workers’ wages, said DOL’s Inspector General.

The independent watchdog’s nearly three-year investigation of the agency’s rulemaking process uncovered multiple shortcomings, according to a report released Tuesday. That includes DOL’s failure to adhere to federal rulemaking guidance; transparency concerns over shelving internal data showing the proposed rule would transfer tips from employees, such as servers and bartenders, to their employers; and DOL regulators being told not to ...