NASHVILLE — Andrew Puzder, a business leader known for his corporate turnarounds as well as his outspoken opposition to a minimum wage hike and support for regulatory reform, was tapped Thursday by president-elect Donald Trump as his nominee for Labor secretary.

Trump praised Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurant Holdings, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants, for his record of job creation and fighting for workers.

“Andy will fight to make American workers safer and more prosperous by enforcing fair occupational safety standards and ensuring workers receive the benefits they deserve, and he will save small businesses from the crushing burdens of unnecessary regulations that are stunting job growth and suppressing wages," Trump said in a news release Thursday.

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Puzder, who lives in the Nashville suburb of Franklin, served as a senior economic adviser during Trump’s campaign and praised the then-candidate’s tax plan as “pro-growth,” calling Trump’s populist message “refreshing.” He also was an economic adviser to 2008 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who has been mentioned as a potential Trump pick for secretary of State.

“I am honored to be nominated by President-elect Trump for Secretary of Labor," Puzder said in the Trump news release. "I look forward to the opportunity to help President-elect Trump restore America’s global economic leadership. The President-elect believes, as do I, that the right government policies can result in more jobs and better wages for the American worker. I’m proud to be offered the chance to serve in his Administration.”

Puzder has pushed for regulatory reform, and railed against higher minimum wages and the burdens of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance requirements for employers, which requires singular businesses with at least 50 employees to provide health coverage for its workers. He co-authored the book, Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn’t Understand It.

Puzder has suggested that companies might look to automation, even kiosks, to counter higher minimum wage requirements.

Puzder is known in the corporate world as a turnaround specialist, twice saving financially troubled CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc.

He did this first in 1991, when he left his corporate law career to help Carl's Jr.'s founder Carl Karcher avoid bankruptcy and keep a stake in the company. He did it again after the acquisition of the company that owned Hardee's put CKE Restaurant Holdings Inc. $700 million in debt.

His strategies were not without controversy. Puzder sought to sell larger, double-decker hamburgers in commercials featuring scantily-clad women, despite criticism from both health advocates and women’s groups,

"I like our ads. I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it's very American," Puzder said in a 2015 interview with Entrepreneur magazine.

Puzder’s companies have been named in multiple class-action lawsuits, which allege employees were not paid fairly.

In 2004, CKE, agreed to a $9 million settlement to resolve three class-action lawsuits concerning overtime pay for restaurant and general managers in California. The company was accused of improperly classifying employees as exempt under the state’s labor and wage laws, according to the company.