Labor & Employment Law

USDOL Beefs Up Enforcement

There has been a great deal of speculation about increased government enforcement in the wake of the recession and the new administration in Washington.  Well, now the rubber has hit the road.  Asserting that "employment and labor laws are regularly and systematically violated," the US Department of Labor has begun the process of hiring hundreds of new employees to focus on enforcement of federal labor laws.  According to US Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, "Beginning this year and into 2010, I am hiring an additional 250 new wage and hour investigators so we can continue to effectively monitor wage and hour violations. During the first six months of this year, the Department of Labor already has recovered more than $82 million in back wages for nearly 107,000 minimum wage workers."

In addition, the Wall Street Journal reports the following:

• There will be 150 investigators added in the Wage and Hour division to enforce wage rules and child-labor laws.
• 100 staff will be added to ensure contractors on stimulus projects are in compliance with applicable laws, increasing the division's staff by more than one-third.
• The Employee Benefits Security Administration is adding 75 staffers to conduct nearly 600 more criminal and civil investigations.
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently formed a task force to design an enforcement program for severe violators.

Follow this link to: Secretary Solis' Press Release

Follow this link to WSJ's article:  Labor Department to Tighten Scrutiny

Full post as published by Strategic HR Lawyer on September 16, 2009 (boomark / email).