DOL Proposes Sweeping Record-Keeping and Notice Change

It is no secret that the Department of Labor is ramping up its enforcement arm. In the past year, DOL's budget was substantially increased, and several new investigators were hired to enforce various wage and hour laws. Now, in the wake of hundreds of lawsuits filed across the country alleging FLSA violations on the part of businesses small and large, DOL issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which would dramatically alter the recordkeeping requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Specifically, DOL proposes to require covered employers to notify workers of their rights under the FLSA and to provide information regarding hours worked and wage computation. In addition, DOL also seeks to require any employer who classifies an employee as exempt to perform a "classification analysis," disclose that "analysis" to the employee, and retain the "analysis" in the event of a wage and hour investigation by DOL. Keep in mind that a wage and hour investigator can come