The Obama Administration’s proposed 2013 budget includes funding to hire 92 additional Wage and Hour Division investigators.
The budget would allocate $6.4 million to hire investigators to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, said Nancy Leppink, acting WHD administrator during a webchat on Monday. The funding would allow for the hiring of 57 investigators focused on FLSA overtime violations and FMLA provisions, according to agency budget documents.
Another $3.8 million would be allocated to hire investigators to increase enforcement related to employee misclassification and to educate employers and employees about their responsibilities and rights. Leppink said 35 investigators would be hired to focus on misclassification investigations. Misclassification has been a priority for the agency recently. It has signed a handful of memorandums of understanding with specific states and established a collaborative effort with the Internal Revenue Service to combat the misclassification of workers.
The Department needs additional money to enforce new FMLA benefits extended to military caregivers and airline flight crew members, according to budget documents.
This is just the beginning of the FY 2013 budget process, but it does give some indications of where Obama’s administration has planted its flag on WHD initiatives.
Related Documents:
Fiscal Year 2013 Budget in Brief (PDF)
Details of the Wage and Hour Division Budget