In December the Trump administration proposed a new rule that specifically allows employers to control and distribute tip income as they see fit, taking away control of tip money from the employees—food servers, baristas, and many other hardworking people—who earned it. Now it has come to light that the Department of Labor, which proposed the rule, has suppressed data and analysis from the department’s own experts showing the economic impacts of this rule.
What happened: In proposing a new rule that would allow employers to control service employees’ tip income, Trump administration buried a study from economic experts at the Department of Labor that estimated service employees will lose approximately $5.8 billion in income if the rule is implemented.
Why it matters: Public policy decisions that are meant to protect US workers need to be backed by the best available science and data. This cannot happen when data and evidence are quashed. Additionally, suppressing scientific data also means such information does not reach the public—those who pay for these studies to be conducted. When scientific information is suppressed it cannot be used in critical decisions. This results in ineffective policies that are informed by politics rather than science.
Read the full story and learn more about the Department of Labor's harmful rule.