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Policy Week in Review – October 17, 2025
At a Glance
The Policy Week in Review, prepared by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), sets forth WPI’s updates on federal, state, and local matters.
NLRB Challenges California Over New Labor Law
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Thursday filed suit against the state of California and the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California over the state’s newly enacted labor law (AB 288), which grants broad authority to the state’s PERB to regulate private sector labor disputes and union elections when the parties have not received a timely determination or remedy from the NLRB. The NLRB argues the new law is preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and seeks an injunction against its enforcement “because it creates a parallel regulatory system that undermines the federal labor policy Congress designed to be national in scope.” For additional analysis of AB 288, read here. This legal challenge follows the lawsuit the NLRB recently filed against the state of New York over its law that sets up a similar regime.
Littler WPI Urges IRS to Clarify that App-based Delivery Drivers Qualify for the “No Tax on Tips” Policy
WPI called on the Internal Revenue Service to make clear that app-based delivery workers qualify for tax relief on tips. The tax relief was included in H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which eliminated taxes on tipped income for some workers. The bill limited the relief to professions that customarily and regularly receive tips, and it instructed the IRS to create a list of those professions. The IRS then published the list, which covers delivery workers in general but not independent, app-based workers explicitly. In public comments, WPI urged the IRS to refer to those workers directly. App-based, independent workers were at the heart of Congress’s policy and were one of the groups Congress most directly had in mind.
Senate to Hold Second Hearing on Labor Law Reform
On Wednesday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m. ET, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will hold a second hearing on federal labor law reform. The title of the hearing is, “Labor Law Reform Part 2: New Solutions for Finding a Pro-Worker Way Forward.” This hearing follows the Committee’s hearing last week which addressed current legislative proposals, including the overly broad “Protecting the Right to Organize Act” (PRO Act) and the “Faster Labor Contracts Act.” The witnesses for next week’s hearing have not been publicly announced.
