Sonderling Takes DOL Helm: Expect Continued Focus on Employer Compliance Assistance

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

Takeaways

• Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling had been serving as acting secretary of labor and previously held senior DOL roles, including deputy secretary and leadership positions in the WHD. 
• Sonderling’s confirmation elevates a seasoned policymaker with prior leadership experience at both the DOL and EEOC.
• The DOL under Sonderling can be expected to continue to focus on compliance assistance and rulemaking to clarify agency regulations and to ease the regulatory burden on employers.

Related links

• We Get AI for Work™: An Exclusive Interview with Keith Sonderling, Former EEOC Commissioner (podcast)
• DOL Resurrects PAID Program: Employers Can Self-Report, Resolve Violations
• DOL’s Proposed 2026 Independent Contractor Rule: What Employers Need to Know
• DOL Rethinks Joint Employer Standard: Proposal Revisits, Revises 2020 Rule
• Home Care Agencies and Their Clients Could Get Relief Through DOL Proposal to Reinstate Companionship, Live-In Exemptions

Article

The Senate on Sept. 30 confirmed Keith Sonderling to serve as secretary of labor on a permanent basis. Sonderling has led the Department of Labor (DOL) in an acting capacity since April 2026, when former Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, appointed in 2025, resigned.

Sonderling was acting and deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) during the first Trump Administration, a key senior role overseeing enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other federal workplace laws. In addition to his significant policy background, Sonderling takes the helm with substantial operational experience, having served as deputy secretary of labor (confirmed by the Senate in March 2025) and as the agency’s chief operating officer, overseeing strategic planning, budgeting and financial management, and other functions.

He also was an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) commissioner from 2020 to 2024 and EEOC vice chair from 2020 to 2021. (Listen to We Get AI for Work™: An Exclusive Interview with Keith Sonderling, Former EEOC Commissioner.)

Sonderling is expected to stay the course, continuing to focus DOL resources on compliance assistance such as the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program and a robust opinion letter program, clarify agency rules, and look to reduce the regulatory burden on employers.

Watch for WHD to finalize proposed rules revising the standard for defining independent contractors and joint employment under the FLSA and other statutes. A final independent contractor rule reportedly was sent to the White House for review on Sept. 28.

The agency’s most recent semiannual agenda, released under Sonderling as acting secretary, indicates a deregulatory push to:

• Revise tip credit guidance and possibly eliminate the “80-20” rule;
• Loosen child labor rules limiting hours of work for 14- and 15-year-olds; and
• Extend the exemption for domestic service employees to workers employed by third-party agencies.

Sonderling’s emphasis on helping employers comply with federal law, rather than on taking an aggressive enforcement stance, means employers can look forward to more agency guidance and to increased cooperation in resolving wage and hour violations when they do arise.

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