by Patricia Schaeffer, Vice President-Regulatory Affairs
On December 28, 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered more than $220 million in back wages for over 341,000 employees in FY 2007. WHD concluded 30,647 compliance actions and assessed over $10.3 million in civil penalties.
Concluded case numbers represent all investigations and conciliations for which the Department has completed work during the fiscal year. Cases are generally concluded when back wages are collected and distributed, civil money penalties are paid, no violations are disclosed, or no further action is appropriate.
WHD is responsible for administering several comprehensive labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.