18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Minor
Use the Regulatory Flexibility Act to exempt small entities from labor rules
Printed page 594 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies
“The labor agencies should exercise their available discretion and duties under the Regulatory Flexibility Act to exempt small entities from regulations where possible.”
What has happened
- Not started
The labor agencies are not using the Regulatory Flexibility Act to exempt small entities. The Department of Labor's own Regulatory Flexibility Agenda, published in the Federal Register on 2026-08-14, states that it "does not include section 610 items at this time" — that is, DOL has scheduled no periodic reviews of existing rules for small-entity burden, which is the RFA duty the Quote points at. The Department is deregulating heavily (the MSHA and OSHA "Improving and Eliminating Regulations" series, the OFCCP and WIOA rescissions), but by across-the-board repeal rather than by small-entity exemption.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- “Moved the other way” is too strong here; the accurate reading is that the Department has declined to use the mechanism the Quote names, and said so in a dated Primary document. Status stays not started with that statement as the Evidence.
- The NLRB, EEOC and MSHA agendas were checked the same way (reginfo.gov, pubId 202510). None carries a small-entity exemption rulemaking.
- Action
- restrict
- Object
- Labor regulations applied to small entities
- ID
- 1634