Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which enforces some of the nation’s most significant labor laws, announced today that investigators collected a total of $196,664,146 for 288,296 workers in fiscal year 2004. The agency’s results build on its strong record of collecting back wages, protecting the rights of workers across the country and resolving complaints more quickly each year.

“Over the last four years, this Administration has launched strong new enforcement initiatives to ensure that America’s workers, especially vulnerable immigrants, receive a full day’s pay for a full day’s work,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “I am pleased to announce that, once again, Wage and Hour continues to set records in the collection of back wages for workers.”

Department officials tout increased productivity on the part of investigators as a key factor in recovering more wages for more workers over the last four years. Investigators spent more than a million man hours on enforcement activities to ensure workers were being paid correctly. With the first update of the nation’s overtime laws in thirty years, the Wage and Hour Division also dispatched staff to hundreds of seminars to help employers make sure they were prepared to comply with the new rules and pay their workers accordingly.

Another contributing factor to the agency’s continued success is the focus on enforcement in low-wage industries. This year, $43 million were recovered for nearly 85,000 employees in industries such as garment, restaurant and health care. The agency’s commitment to ensuring the safe employment of youth remains strong. In 2004, the number of minors found employed in hazardous occupations declined by 25 percent.

“Our attention to protecting the rights and wages of workers in low-wage industries has paid off for the most vulnerable workers in our country,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment Standards Victoria A. Lipnic.

The Wage and Hour Division administers and enforces the minimum wage, overtime, and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA); worker protections provided in several temporary visa programs; and the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) and the Service Contract Act (SCA). For more information about the Wage and Hour Division, please visit www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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