In a time faraway…there was a new President who embraced labor. He appointed a former union official to head the Department of Labor, Marty Walsh. Walsh had ambitious goals but most of his time was spent figuring how to battle a pandemic in the workplace. Now, with the legal battles over and the workplace regulations set, is it time for Walsh to get back to helping workers? You bet it is. In fact, they never stopped. Here are some of the latest developments:
- This month, the NLRB and the DOL, including the Wage and Hour Division, enacted a Memo of Understanding (MOU) to share resources, work together on investigations and share data. Reminder: The NLRB has been given its teeth back with the appointment of a new chair and board members.
- Employers cannot make wage calculation errors. The voluntary PAID program to admit errors and make restitution without penalty was the first thing to go.
- The DOL has returned to its practice of announcing penalties and awards for wage violations, like these, and they are frequent. The investigators are helped mightily by disgruntled employees.
- The federal DOL is the floor, not the ceiling. Many states have stricter laws and ambitious Attorneys General to enforce those laws (looking at you Massachusetts).
- You are not the only one sick of COVID. Elected officials want to have some good news and sticking it to the man (employers) might be just the thing.
What to do now? A little time spent reviewing your pay practices and wage protocols would be very well spent. We have performed wage and hour audits for years, keeping up with the changes. Our Complete Diagnostic Wage, Hour and Timekeeping Audit is fixed fee and user friendly. We do the heavy lifting so you can keep your business moving. We can help.