The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division set a new record in 2007, recovering more than $220 million in back wages for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and other statutes.

The Division concluded more than 30,000 compliance actions in 2007.  The numbers include:  (1) more than $30 million in back wages recovered from Wal-Mart for nearly 80,000 employees; (2) more than $57 million in back wages for more than 85,000 employees in “low-wage industries” (e.g., agriculture, restaurants, hospitality and day care); and (3) more than $15 million collected for approximately 12,000 employees for violations of the DOL’s 2004 white-collar exemption rule.

Many of the other recoveries were from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast Region, where the Division has opened numerous offices due to ongoing FLSA concerns.  Similar activity in that region is anticipated to continue for at least the next three years.

The lesson?  As we’ve discussed on numerous occasions, one of the very best things an employer can do right now to lessen potential legal liability is to ensure that exempt/non-exempt classifications and overtime policies are in strict compliance with the law.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 6:05 am and is filed under Class Actions, Employment Law News, FLSA, Litigation, Wage and Hour. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.