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Under new Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, the agency is expected to unleash a flurry of new regulations that include boosting employment for veterans and the disabled.

The expected implementation of new rules has business leaders worried and labor advocates cheering.

Some long-awaited rules would help boost employment for veterans and the disabled, increase wages for home health care workers and set new limits for workplace exposure to dangerous silica dust.

Other, more controversial rules and actions could help labor unions in organizing campaigns and allow union officials to take part in safety inspections at nonunion companies.

"The general view of the business community is that there will be an activist, enforcement agenda," said Michael Lotito, a San Francisco lawyer who represents employers in labor disputes. "That means there are going to be more lawsuits and the regulatory agenda is going to be alive and well."

In many cases, the pending rules have languished for two years or more, stalled by election-year politics and the delay in installing Perez as labor secretary. Republicans who opposed Perez say his record as head of the Justice Department's civil rights division was one of ideological activism. But labor and workplace advocates call Perez a champion for workers' rights.

"American workers have an advocate in the Labor Department who will protect and defend workers' rights -- from collective bargaining to workplace safety to retirement security," said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The Senate confirmed Perez last month on a party-line 54-46 http://independent.academia.edu/ChristyTatei/Posts