State and Local Authorities Crack Down on Wage and Hour Violations

You’re Not As Small As You Think You Are

Posted on 21-Dec-09 by The Timekeeper

Some small business owners may delude themselves into thinking the Feds are the only ones they need to worry about, and they may assume they’re “too small” for the federal government to bother with. The stories I see when researching this blog tell me they’re wrong on both counts.

The Feds are NOT the only ones to worry about when it comes to wage and hour compliance. Just recently, for instance, a story came across the AP wire documenting how state and local authorities are cracking down on wage and hour violators. According to this story, California and New York have already created multi-agency task forces to monitor employers in target industries and regions that are particularly prone to wage and hour violations. Washington, Oregon and Massachusetts are said to be moving in a similar direction. Even cities such as Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Orleans are getting in on the act.

Beyond that, it’s going to be dangerous in the future to count on your relatively small size as a protection even against Federal investigations. With 250 additional wage and hour investigators now working for the US DOL, and Secretary Solis declaring her determination to vigorously enforce wage and hour law, you can count on more actions from the Feds in the future — many of which may involve smaller businesses.

So, what steps have you taken to safeguard your business against lawsuits and judgments?