DOL releases latest enforcement stats on FLSA, FMLA

Which Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provision cost employers the most in back wages, according to the latest stats?

If you guessed overtime, you’d be right — by a long shot.

Overtime was about five times costlier than the other types of FLSA violations combined in FY 2023, the most recent data available.

Overall, the Dept. of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division collected a total of $156,152,548 in back wages for FLSA violations last fiscal year. Here’s the breakdown by FLSA provision, ranked from highest to lowest dollar amount of back wages:

• $130,686,461 in back wages for overtime violations
• $20,866,247 in back wages for minimum wage violations
• $4,429,962 in back wages for tip-related violations, and
• $169,878 in back wages for retaliation violations.

Suggested step: Review your classifications of independent contractors. The new DOL rule that takes effect March 11, 2024, may mean some of your workers will need to be reclassified as employees — and quickly. An incorrect classification can result in overtime and minimum wage violations.

Child labor was another FLSA problem that surfaced among employers, with 5,792 minors employed in violation of the law in FY 2023, up from 3,876 in FY 2022.

The DOL collected $8,039,728 in civil money penalties related to child labor. That’s almost double from the prior year when the agency brought in $4,386,205.

FMLA facts

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division also provided data on enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

In FY 2023, $987,782 was collected in back wages. That number in the prior fiscal year was $870,077.

Last year, the top four most common FMLA violations were:

• denial of leave – 148 compliance actions
• discrimination (disciplinary action, etc.) – 142 compliance actions
• failure to reinstate to same or equivalent position, benefits, etc. – 79 compliance actions, and
• termination – 71 compliance actions.

Much less problematic was failure to maintain health benefits.

Industries owing back wages

Looking at all the laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, the industry that topped the list for back wages was construction ($35,558,598). That was followed closely by healthcare ($31,799,787) and food services ($29,648,592).

Finally, the law tripping up government contractors the most? The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, with 755 concluded compliance actions.