If a recent news release from U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is any indication, 2010 may prove to be a year of ramped-up enforcement from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In her November 19 statement, Secretary Solis sent a clear message about the enforcement and outreach efforts occurring within the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), announcing the recent hire of an additional 250 wage and hour investigators as well as plans for a public awareness campaign on worker rights, expected to launch in 2010.
The hiring effort at the WHD represents a staff increase of more than one-third, a move that will significantly improve the DOL’s top priority of protecting worker rights by allowing prompter response to complaints of wage violations and more targeted enforcement. Solis’ message is clear: “Failure to comply with these basic labor standards means that workers are not receiving the money they have earned,” and the department “will not rest until the law is followed by every employer, and each worker is treated and compensated fairly.”
Historically, the WHD has announced impressive recovery efforts, claiming that more than $185 million in back wages were restored to workers in the 2008 fiscal year. However, a March 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office called into question the accuracy of those statistics and the efficiency and honesty of just about every other step of the WHD’s investigative process.
In the wake of that report, Solis issued a written statement noting that the WHD had already begun the process of rectifying the inefficiencies found in the department, specifically noting the planned hire of these additional investigators. In this week’s statement, Solis noted that nearly $2 million in back wages had been collected for more than 500 workers in just the past three months.
Workers’ Rights Campaign Announced
Solis also unveiled details of We Can Help, a program slated for early 2010 through which the department will work with advocacy groups and other stakeholders to inform workers of their labor rights.