The Department of Labor will add 100 investigators to support its Wage and Hour Division, according to www.constructiondive.com.
Investigators will conduct investigations to ensure workers are receiving their full wages, promote compliance through outreach and public education programs, and help combat worker retaliation and the misclassification of workers as independent contractors.
“Adding 100 investigators to our team is an important step in the right direction,” said Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman in the agency’s release. “We anticipate significantly more hiring activity later in fiscal year 2022.”
The move highlights DOL’s increased focus on employers’ violations of wage and hour laws and aligns with the Biden administration’s interest in workers’ rights.
Wage theft is the denial of an employee’s rightly owed wages or benefits and has been a significant labor violation for years. Common violations include failure to pay overtime; failure to abide by the local, state or federal minimum wage laws; tip theft; failure to allow breaks; and failure to allow unpaid, job-protected leave following childbirth or for a medical condition as required by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
DOL’s Wage and Hour Division reportedly recovered $257.8 million in back wages for workers in fiscal year 2020; $322.5 million in fiscal year 2019; $304.9 in fiscal year 2018; and $270.4 million in fiscal year 2017. More than 1 million workers received recovered wages during this time period, with an average of more than $1,000 per worker.
Essential workers and immigrant workers are particularly vulnerable to wage theft. DOL’s analysis of low-wage, high-violation industries for 2021 shows the food services, construction and retail industries lead in cases.
DOL also is taking strong action regarding worker misclassification, which some employers considered using as a strategy in anticipation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s nationwide vaccine mandate for employers; the U.S. Supreme Court has since stayed the mandate.
