Top Wage Enforcer Focused on Being ‘as Protective as Possible’

With just a year left in President Joe Biden’s first term, the next several months could be some of the most challenging for the newly confirmed head of the Wage and Hour Division as the agency races to wrap up major policy changes while grappling with increased enforcement needs.

The Senate’s Oct. 25 vote to confirm Jessica Looman as the administrator of the WHD—the Labor Department subagency tasked with enforcing minimum wage, child labor, and more than a dozen other laws—was largely procedural, as Looman has been serving as the temporary head of the division since June 2021. She was ...