U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ANNOUNCES NEW PLAN TO CURB LABOR VIOLATIONS

The United States Department of Labor recently announced plans to require companies to prepare and adopt compliance plans aimed at ensuring they do not violate wage, job safety and equal employment laws. The Department of Labor stated that its intention was to foster a culture of compliance among employers, rather than what it called the existing “catch me if you can” system most employers currently have in place.

Department officials stated they hope the plan will greatly reduce problems in industries with widespread wage violations, such as restaurants and discount retailing, and those with widespread safety violations, like coal mining and construction.

The Department of Labor stated that specifics of what companies would be required to do had yet to be worked out. However, as way of example only, it stated that companies that classify workers as independent contractors would have to prepare a written explanation as to why those workers should be considered contractors as opposed to employees.

Obviously, employers are going to have to wait and see more details of the proposal.