Wage and Hour Enforcement Faulted In Government Report (Again)

The enforcement efforts of the federal Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which is charged with enforcing overtime and minimum wage laws, is failing to adequately perform and protect workers, according to a report to be issued by the Government Accountability Office, the New York Times reports, "Labor Agency Is Failing Workers, Report Says." A copy of the report can be read here. The report details numerous instances of wage and hour investigators dropping cases when law-breaking companies simply did not return calls, failing for many, many months to follow-through on investigations and found that the agency had mishandled nineteen percent of its most serious cases. 

The Kentucky Employment Law Blog by Robert L. Abell reported in July 2008 of similar enforcement problems at the agency, "Overtime and Wage Enforcement Lax, Government Reports."