Total Articles: 8
U.S. Department of Labor Targets Connecticut and Rhode Island Construction Industry Employers
Connecticut and Rhode Island construction industry employers are facing a significant increase in government scrutiny of their labor and employment practices over the next several years. On November 30, 2011, the Hartford office of the U.S Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division ("U.S. DOL") issued a press release announcing a "multiyear enforcement initiative" aimed at improving what it sees as "widespread noncompliance with minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act" in the construction industry in both Connecticut and Rhode Island.
What To Do When the DOL Makes an Unannounced Visit
Two federal agents arrive at your workplace and ask to interview all of your employees and see all of your payroll records for the last two years. Their business cards say that they are investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division. What do you do?
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S "ADMINISTRATOR INTERPRETATIONS".
The United States Department of Labor is the agency responsible for administering many of the federal laws governing the American workplace. To handle its wide-ranging responsibilities, the DOL is organized into smaller bureaus. The Wage Hour Division ("WHD") is responsible for the enforcement and interpretation of the FLSA and the FMLA.
1-800-UR-Wages: DOL's Referral Program Sends Complainants Directly to Counsel.
Do not pass go, do not have your claims investigated. According to the new referral system from the U.S. DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), potential plaintiffs can go directly to legal counsel. WHD, the agency responsible for enforcing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has announced that it is undertaking a new attorney-referral initiative with the American Bar Association. In what is a jolting move to many, WHD has announced that it will begin referring certain cases to private attorneys instead of investigating those claims.
Privatizing Wage and Hour Enforcement: The New DOL-ABA Collaboration.
Over the past year, the Department of Labor has increased its emphasis on enforcement measures as part of its new strategy called “Plan/Prevent/Protect”: The Beginning of a Broader Regulatory and Enforcement Strategy. In keeping with those efforts, the White House recently announced an unprecedented collaboration between a federal agency and a private bar association. Starting Monday, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division will work with the Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral and Information Service of the American Bar Association. Workers who contact the Division may now be referred to “qualified private-sector attorneys” to handle their cases as private actions.
Polyglot for Wage and Hour Administrator.
Almost two years into his term, President Obama is making a 2nd try at an Administrator for the Wage and Hour division of the Department of Labor, with his nomination of Leon Rodriguez, currently a DOJ lawyer and formerly County Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland.
The DOL's Wage and Hour Division will no longer provide fact-specific Opinion Letters.
Title 29 of the U.S. Code provides direction, regulation, and information regarding issues affecting labor, and includes the Fair Labor Standards Act, which addresses both federal minimum wage issues and the laws regulating overtime pay. The issues addressed under Title 29 are administered, in large part, by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor (DOL).
Wage and Hour Division Criticized.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has failed to effectively enforce federal wage laws, according to a Government Accountability Office report issued on July 15th, 2008.
