DOL Audits Will Rise With New Funding Increases

I have often posted on the recently found aggressiveness of the Departments of Labor, on both the federal and state levels, to step up enforcement of (alleged) wage-hour (i.e. overtime) violations and independent contractor audits (i.e. 1099/consultant). More fuel has just been thrown onto this already raging fire as the federal DOL has now requested more money to "fight" violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family Medical Leave Act and to curb the ostensible scourge of misclassification allegedly rampant in business today.

The need for more money seems to also have political overtones, as suggested by the recent statement of the Acting Secretary of Labor, who stated that "the Department of Labor's fiscal year 2014 budget request is a critical ingredient in the Obama administration's plan to grow the economy from the middle class out, not from the top down." The Acting Secretary added that the DOL wants to "make sure Americans can support their families