Preparing For WHD's Less-Carrot-More-Stick Enforcement Approach

Gone are the days when the U.S. DOL's Wage & Hour Division ("WHD") invited employers to proactively identify and collaborate with the Division to fix their wage and hour missteps. Closed is the chapter in which employers could expect WHD to stand down on the threat of double damages outside of egregious cases. After years of a prior administration focused on compliance assistance, there's a new guard at the DOL, and its approach thus far might be described as less carrot and more stick.

We have observed the shift at WHD both through formal announcements and anecdotal experience. Mere weeks after the new administration's arrival, the DOL confirmed its termination of the PAID program, which invited employers to conduct self-audits and work with WHD to remediate identified issues and provide back wage payments to employees. And just last month, the Division issued new guidance to its field staff confirming a reversal of prior policy that reserved the imposition of