Wage and Hour Division

Last updated
Wage and Hour Division
DOL WHD logo.svg
Agency overview
Formed1938
Jurisdiction United States and its territories
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
MottoThe Wage and Hour mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the Nation's workforce..
Employees1,700
Annual budget$230,100,000
Agency executive
Website www.dol.gov/whd

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the United States Department of Labor is the federal office responsible for enforcing federal labor laws. The Division was formed with the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. [1] The Wage and Hour mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the Nation's workforce. WHD protects over 144 million workers in more than 9.8 million establishments throughout the United States and its territories. [2] The Wage and Hour Division enforces over 13 laws, most notably the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family Medical Leave Act. [3] In FY18, WHD recovered $304,000,000 in back wages for over 240,000 workers and followed up FY19, with a record-breaking $322,000,000 for over 300,000 workers. [4] [5]

Contents

History

The Wage and Hour Division was created with the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. The Division is responsible for the administration and enforcement of a wide range of laws which collectively cover virtually all private and State and local government employment. The Division has a nationwide staff of investigators, supervisors, and technical and clerical employees responsible for enforcing FLSA, Government Contracts labor standards statutes, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 also provided certain additional enforcement responsibilities to be undertaken by the Wage and Hour Division staff. [2] [6]

Laws administered and enforced

Highlights

The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is authorized under 29 U.S.C. 207, et seq. to administer and enforce a variety of laws that establish the minimum standards for wages and working conditions in the United States. Collectively, these labor standards cover most private, state, and local government employment. WHD's mission is to “promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the Nation’s workforce.” WHD is instrumental in promoting access to opportunities— opportunities for employers to compete on a level playing field; opportunities for workers to move into the middle class; and opportunities for workers to balance their family and work obligations. WHD has a nationwide staff of investigators, supervisors, analysts, technicians, and administrative employees who share responsibility for enforcing and administering the minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and break time for nursing mothers provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); the prevailing wage requirements and wage determination provisions of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA); the wages and working conditions under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA); the job protections of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); and the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA). WHD also enforces the field sanitation and temporary labor camp standards in agriculture and certain employment standards and worker protections of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These laws protect over 135 million workers in more than 7.3 million establishments throughout the United States and its territories. [2]

Given the scope of the agency's responsibilities, WHD must make the most of its limited resources by focusing its enforcement and compliance assistance efforts to achieve the greatest impact. The division uses data and evidence to identify areas and industries in which serious violations may be widespread, despite a lack of complaints, and often organizes educational and enforcement initiatives in those areas. WHD complements enforcement with outreach and education to employers. By partnering with industry and employers to produce meaningful compliance assistance, WHD can increase compliance with the laws it enforces. Employers can anticipate and plan when the agency provides them with resources and information concerning the Nation's wage and workplace standards. Employers and employees benefit when businesses manage costs through innovation and efficiencies rather than by violating the law, undercutting workers and other businesses. By combining enforcement with education, more workers in this country can obtain stable and secure income and responsible businesses can succeed. [2]

Compliance assistance to the employer community is a central component of WHD's efforts to meet its mission. Through direct engagement with industry leaders at a national, regional, and local level, WHD has developed productive relationships that have resulted in meaningful partnerships and compliance assistance tools that have been well received by the employer community. In the process, rather than relying on traditional text-heavy fact sheets and Power Point presentations, WHD has had early success transitioning into the use of modern compliance assistance methods and has used innovative ways to share information including visual design, infographics, videos, interactive web-based tools, and language that is tailored to the employer audience and accessible and usable in multiple contexts and formats. For example, by analyzing data on incoming compliance assistance questions and most frequently visited webpages, as well as through discussions with major industry associations, WHD recognized a need to develop more employer-friendly information regarding the FMLA. WHD collaborated with industry stakeholders to produce an easy-to-understand FMLA Employer Guide2 that has been distributed widely through industry channels. While these efforts have received universal support from stakeholders, WHD has been unable to expand on these successful models due to resource limitations. Demand for accessible information about the laws WHD enforces remains high; in FY 2016 alone WHD's webpages were viewed more than 35 million times. Additional funds would be used to expand on these efforts to modernize compliance assistance information and allow WHD to reach and inform a broader audience, increasing compliance with the laws WHD enforces. [2]

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. "History | U.S. Department of Labor".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Congressional Budget Justification, Wage and Hour Division" (PDF). US Department of Labor. 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. "Major Laws Administered/Enforced - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  4. "Data - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  5. "U.S. Department of Labor Delivers Record $322 Million in Recovered Wages For Workers in Fiscal Year 2019 | U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  6. "U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division (WHD) – Wage and Hour Division History". www.dol.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Major Laws Administered/Enforced - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor". www.dol.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-07.