Team Georgia Connection

U. S. Department of Labor is cracking down on labor law violations

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that it is hiring 250 investigators to look at possible wage and hour violations.  So why is the department beefing up its investigator workforce?

It begins with a report, “Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment and Labor Laws in America’s Cities,” which is based on face to face interviews with approximately 4,000 employees in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.  Here is a sample of the findings:

• 76% who had worked overtime the previous week claimed they were not paid time-and-a-half for it.
• 26% said they were being paid less than the minimum wage.
• 75% of those interviewed earned less than $10 an hour.
• 69% of workers who were entitled to a meal break said they received no break at all, had their break shortened, were interrupted by their employer or worked during the break.
• 20% said they had made a complaint to their employer or attempted to form a union in the last year; of those, 43% said they’d experienced some form of retaliation — such as getting fired or being threatened with a pay cut.

Additionally, the report shows that women and foreign born workers are more likely to experience these violations.

Source:  HR Morning, DOL hires 250 cops to hunt labor violationsby Jim Giuliano.