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Non-profit

National Employment Law Project (NELP)

Website:

www.nelp.org/
Location:

NEW YORK, NY
Tax ID:

13-2758558
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2023):

Revenue: $11,662,874
Expenses: $15,524,881
Assets: $26,189,376
Type:

Labor advocacy group
Formation:

1974
President and CEO:

Rebecca Dixon

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National Employment Law Project (NELP) is a New York City-based think tank which advocates for left-of-center labor and employment policy. The union-backed group, formed in 1974, advocates for steep increases in the minimum wage and other restrictions on employers. 1

NELP has partnered with a network of local and national organizations which include labor unions. The organization previously supported the Service Employees International Union’s “Fight for $15” minimum wage campaign, and has received financial contributions from the union as well. 2

NELP is also a financial supporter of several state and local groups and is a “recommended organization” in the Democracy Alliance classification. 3 NELP has provided notable contributions to Maine People’s Resource Center, Our Oregon, Working Families Organization, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.4

Initiatives

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) organizes RaiseTheMinimumWage.com, a local campaign intended to raise local wages at the local, state, and federal levels.5

In November 2016, shortly following the 2016 presidential election, then-NELP general counsel Paul Sonn told USA Today that minimum wage hikes approved by voters in four states during the election “will bring very badly needed pay hikes for 2.3 million workers.”6 The Congressional Budget Office previously estimated that a 2014 proposal outlined by then-President Barack Obama and supported by NELP to set a federal minimum wage of $10.10 per hour would have led to a likely 500,000 jobs lost nationwide. 7

NELP was previously criticized by the Washington Post for being “possibly the most un-nuanced analysis of minimum wage hikes that you’ll ever see.”8 A Forbes commentator noted the methodology NELP chose “proves absolutely nothing at all about the minimum wage.”9 The Post noted the purported study’s apparent purpose: “a useful talking point for raise-the-wage supporters.”8

Another policy advocacy push by NELP was prohibiting employers from inquiring about applicants’ criminal histories on job applications, called “ban the box.”10 11

Labor Advocacy

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) has previously received funding from the Bricklayers Union, the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers, the Carpenters Union, and the California Nurses Association.12

The Employment Policies Institute used open records laws to show that NELP had previously written a San Francisco scheduling mandate ordinance in concert with the San Francisco Bay Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO.13                                                          

Leadership

Rebecca Dixon is the president and CEO of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), serving in the role since 2020. Dixon joined NELP in 2010, and has previously worked as NELP’s Chief of Programs. Prior to NELP, Dixson worked in the Labor and Civil Rights Division of the New York State Governor’s office and is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association. She is also a board member for The American Prospect, Americans for Financial Reform, the Coalition on Human Needs, the Hope Enterprise Corporation, and the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation. She is also a member of the Economic Analysis and Research Network in the South, the 2020 Aspen Institute SOAR Leadership Fellowship, and the 2021 National Academy of Social Insurance’s Unemployment Insurance Reform Working Group and COVID-19 Task Force. 14

Financials

The non-group has been tax-exempt since August 1974. In 2023, National Employment Law Project (NELP) reported total revenues of $11,662,874, total expenditures of $15,524,881, net assets of $22,255,630, and $11,151,204 in contributions. 15

In its tax returns of 2022, the group reported total revenues of $8,303,395, total expenditures of $17,262,542, net assets of $25,222,143, and $8,203,838 in contributions. 16

Funding

The AFL-CIO, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are among the unions that have reported giving to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), including a total of $165,000 in 2015.17

The organization has also received funding from the Ford Foundation, including $2.2 million in 2014. NELP also received $1.78 million from the donor-advised fund Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. 18 The Foundation to Support Open Society, Rockefeller Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and the Wyss Foundation have also contributed substantially to NELP.18 The Democracy Alliance, a consortium of left-of-center donors and foundations, lists NELP as a “recommended organization.”3

NELP has also provided grants to aligned organizations. including $150,000 to the Advocacy Fund in San Francisco and $155,000 to Community Legal Services in Philadelphia.19 Other recipients of support from NELP include Maine People’s Resource Center, Willamette Valley Law Project, Our Oregon, Working Families Organization, Missouri Jobs with Justice, Together Colorado, Granite State Organizing Project, Massachusetts Communities Action Network, Economic Policy Institute, Center for Worker Justice, Safer Foundation, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.4                      

References

  1. “Campaigns.” National Employment Law Project. Accessed April 06, 2017. http://www.nelp.org/campaigns/
  2. Service Employees International Union, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2015, Schedules 15, 16, and 17
  3. “Recommended Organizations.” Democracy Alliance. Accessed April 06, 2017. http://democracyalliance.org/investments/
  4. National Employment Law Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2015, Schedule I Part II
  5. “Resources.” Raise the Minimum Wage. Accessed April 07, 2017. http://raisetheminimumwage.com/resources/
  6. USA Today: “Four states ok minimum wage hikes to at least $12.” November 9, 2016. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/11/09/four-states-ok-minimum-wage-hikes-least-12/93537050/
  7. Davis, Susan. “CBO report: Minimum wage hike could cost 500,000 jobs.” USA Today. February 18, 2014. Accessed March 21, 2017. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/02/18/cbo-minimum-wage-jobs/5582779/
  8. Tankersley, Jim. “Here’s a really, really, ridiculously simple way of looking at minimum wage hikes.” The Washington Post. May 05, 2016. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/05/heres-a-really-really-ridiculously-simple-way-of-looking-at-minimum-wage-hikes/
  9. Worstall, Tim. “Relax Everyone: NELP’s New Report Says The Minimum Wage Doesn’t Cost Jobs.” Forbes. May 06, 2016. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/05/06/relax-everyone-nelps-new-report-says-the-minimum-wage-doesnt-cost-jobs/2/#587f82733b7d
  10. “Ban the Box: U.S. Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair Hiring Policies.” National Employment Law Project. Accessed April 07, 2017. http://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/
  11. Semuels, Alana. “When Banning One Kind of Discrimination Results in Another.” The Atlantic. August 04, 2016. Accessed April 07, 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/consequences-of-ban-the-box/494435/
  12. Author’s analysis from Annual Reports of Labor Organizations (Forms LM-2) filed with the Department of Labor Office of Labor Management Standards. Queries conducted April 7, 2017.
  13. Saltsman, Michael. “San Francisco: City government by and for unions?” The San Francisco Examiner. November 22, 2015. Accessed April 10, 2017. http://www.sfexaminer.com/san-francisco-city-government-by-and-for-unions/
  14. “Rebecca Dixon.” National Employment Law Project, accessed October 13, 2025. https://www.nelp.org/person/rebecca-dixon/
  15. Andrea Suozzo et al., “National Employment Law Project, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/132758558/202443209349309829/full. 
  16. Andrea Suozzo et al., “National Employment Law Project, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer,” ProPublica, May 9, 2013, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/132758558/202303199349323320/full. 
  17. Author’s analysis from Annual Reports of Labor Organizations (Forms LM-2) filed with the Department of Labor Office of Labor Management Standards for 2015 fiscal years. Queries conducted April 10, 2017.
  18. Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Queries conducted April 10, 2017.
  19. National Employment Law Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2014, Schedule I Part II
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 1974

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2023 Dec Form 990 $11,662,874 $15,524,881 $26,189,376 $3,933,746 N $11,151,204 $185,568 $202,850 $623,576
    2022 Dec Form 990 $8,303,395 $17,262,542 $29,461,910 $4,239,767 N $8,203,838 $0 $182,807 $645,037 PDF
    2021 Dec Form 990 $28,468,776 $15,029,059 $36,945,539 $1,811,407 N $27,711,997 $364,663 $154,164 $475,121 PDF
    2020 Dec Form 990 $12,286,184 $11,311,489 $21,903,952 $934,136 N $11,896,975 $257,325 $149,506 $488,681
    2019 Dec Form 990 $10,610,851 $10,193,900 $20,496,208 $1,141,101 Y $10,330,165 $102,480 $14,544 $379,990 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $4,732,592 $8,649,004 $18,997,152 $968,799 Y $4,392,550 $132,010 $116,282 $379,824 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $16,800,662 $8,569,143 $23,756,189 $1,407,243 N $16,671,005 $22,199 $76,371 $336,541 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $8,258,186 $6,479,903 $14,746,820 $860,254 N $7,992,438 $190,285 $50,851 $314,766 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $8,171,056 $6,222,550 $12,768,117 $688,879 N $8,025,049 $108,150 $22,660 $297,893 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $6,866,030 $5,549,503 $10,775,775 $645,043 N $6,530,009 $301,156 $22,827 $296,151 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $4,967,739 $5,203,760 $9,348,743 $534,538 N $4,817,906 $115,016 $22,819 $1,002,204 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $6,847,164 $6,230,538 $9,815,160 $764,934 N $6,727,029 $78,787 $19,976 $807,069 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $6,279,427 $5,384,600 $9,051,138 $679,638 N $6,178,338 $36,345 $32,830 $135,889 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    National Employment Law Project (NELP)

    75 MAIDEN LN RM 601
    NEW YORK, NY 10038-4620