I’m not sure if this is what’s happening or not, but it looks suspiciously so: The Department of Labor (DOL) is eliminating its Employment Standards Administration (ESA) effective Nov. 8. After that, the four agencies/departments now administered by the ESA will report directly to the DOL secretary.

Which looks to me like a ploy to eliminate the middle man, an assistant secretary of Labor, but I have no insider knowledge of DOL politics.

Anyway, the four agencies now to report directly are the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (OWCP). WHD is the group that busts you for not paying overtime and for committing other wage thefts.