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[Press Release]
Wage and Hour Division Enforcement in Fiscal Year 2002 at Ten-Year High
The Employment Standards Administration’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $175 million in back wages in
fiscal year 2002 – a 33 percent increase over fiscal year 2001 and the largest amount collected in the last ten years.
The number of workers receiving back wages increased over 21 percent. The agency completed 40,264 compliance actions in
fiscal year 2002, a 6 percent increase over the 38,051 completed actions in fiscal year 2001. For the first time since
1992, the Wage and Hour Division also saw an increase in total enforcement hours logged by agency employees.
WHD Enforcement Statistics – All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
Concluded Cases1 |
38,051 |
40,264 |
5.8% |
Back Wages Collected |
$131,954,657 |
$175,640,492 |
33.1% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
216,647 |
263,593 |
21.6% |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$10,556,206 |
$9,045,279 |
-14.3% |
Complaints Registered |
29,085 |
31,413 |
8.0% |
Enforcement Hours |
998,937 |
1,070,600 |
7.1% |
Back Wages for Fair Labor Standards Act Violations Increased by 29%
In fiscal year 2002, the Wage and Hour Division collected almost $143 million in back wages for violations of the
Fair Labor Standards Act, an almost 29 percent increase over the $111 million collected in FY 2001. Employees who
received back wages similarly increased by almost 24 percent. FLSA cases represent about 83 percent of all cases handled
by the agency in a fiscal year. This fiscal year about 70 percent of the FLSA cases had monetary violations, slightly
higher than the 66 percent of monetary violation cases in fiscal year 2001.
FLSA Enforcement Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
Concluded FLSA Cases |
31,772 |
33,154 |
4.3% |
FLSA Cases with Monetary Violations |
21,001 |
23,111 |
10.0% |
Back Wages Collected for FLSA Cases |
$111,102,883 |
$142,979,826 |
28.6% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
195,257 |
241,568 |
23.7% |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,987,567 |
$2,211,126 |
-25.9% |
Back Wages for Garment, Agriculture and Health Care Employees Increased
The Wage and Hour Division continues to pursue targeted enforcement in low-wage industries with vulnerable, and often
immigrant, workforces and a history of chronic violations. In fiscal year 2002, the agency set national priorities and
goals in the garment, agriculture and health care industries. Although the number of concluded cases declined, the back
wages collected by the agency in these industries increased substantially. The Wage and Hour Division collected almost
$6 million in back wages for garment workers in fiscal year 2002 – a 27.3 percent increase over the $4.7 million
collected in fiscal year 2001. In addition, garment workers receiving back wages in fiscal year 2002 increased by 51
percent. The back wages collected for agriculture employees increased by 30 percent, from almost $1.7 million in fiscal
year 2001 to almost $2.2 million in fiscal year 2002. Finally, although back wages collected for health care workers
increased only 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2002, the number of health care employees receiving back wages increased by
20.5 percent.
Low-Wage Industries Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
Garment Manufacturing |
Concluded Cases |
1,361 |
1,000 |
-26.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$4,659,127 |
$5,933,609 |
27.3% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
5,188 |
7,842 |
51.1% |
Agriculture |
Concluded Cases |
2,306 |
2,177 |
-5.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$1,655,147 |
$2,158,068 |
30.3% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
8,834 |
6,259 |
-29.1% |
Health Care |
Concluded Cases |
2,375 |
2,219 |
-6.5% |
Back Wages Collected |
$9,870,468 |
$10,219,116 |
3.5% |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
20,219 |
24,380 |
20.5% |
Child Labor Investigations Increase
In fiscal year 2002, the Wage and Hour Division also continued to pursue targeted enforcement of the child labor
provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a result of these efforts, the agency increased targeted child labor
investigations by 4 percent. However, the number of child labor violations found in fiscal year 2002 decreased by 8
percent from fiscal year 2001. Similarly, the number of Hazardous Occupation (HO) violations declined by 15 percent, and
the number of minors found illegally employed decreased by 2 percent.
Child Labor Statistics |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Change |
Targeted Child Labor Cases |
2,021 |
2,105 |
4.1% |
Cases with Violations |
2,103 |
1,936 |
-7.9% |
Minors Employed in Violation |
9,918 |
9,690 |
-2.2% |
Minor Per Case |
4.7 |
5 |
6.3% |
Cases with HO Violations |
876 |
748 |
-14.6% |
Minors Employed in Violation of HOs |
2,060 |
1,710 |
-16.9% |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$6,637,118 |
$5,547,026 |
-16.4% |
Child Labor Enforcement Time |
7.4% |
6.3% |
-1.1% |
Family and Medical Leave Act Enforcement Increased
The Wage and Hour Division found over $3.7 million in back wages for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act
in fiscal year 2002, a 25% increase over the $3 million found for FMLA violations in fiscal year 2001. The number of
FMLA complaint investigations concluded and the number of violations found also increased in fiscal year 2002.
Termination of employees seeking FMLA leave continues to be the primary reason that employees file a complaint with the
agency.
FMLA Enforcement Statistics |
FY2000 |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Number of Complaints |
2,833 |
2,790 |
3,501 |
Nature of Complaint |
Refusal to Grant FMLA Leave |
575 |
629 |
741 |
Refusal to Restore to Equivalent Position |
402 |
360 |
400 |
Termination |
1,159 |
1,123 |
1,503 |
Fail to Maintain Health Benefits |
45 |
62 |
71 |
Discrimination |
652 |
616 |
786 |
Status of Compliance Action |
No Violation Cases |
1,235 |
1,343 |
1,766 |
Employer Not Covered |
71 |
58 |
63 |
Employee Not Eligible |
142 |
164 |
224 |
Complaint Not Valid |
855 |
953 |
1281 |
Other |
167 |
168 |
198 |
Violation Cases |
1,598 |
1,447 |
1,735 |
Number of Employees Affected |
1,668 |
1,627 |
2,077 |
Amount of Monetary Damages |
$2,953,462 |
$2,983,936 |
$3,731,929 |
Wage and Hour Division 2002 Regional Statistics
WHD Northeast Region
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
Concluded Cases |
9,072 |
9,712 |
7.05 |
Back Wages Collected |
$30,428,969 |
$46,524,908 |
52.90 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
41,411 |
61,180 |
47.74 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,494,120 |
$2,508,365 |
0.57 |
Complaints Registered |
5,607 |
6,037 |
7.67 |
Enforcement Hours |
268,334 |
279,797 |
4.27 |
WHD Southeast Region
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
Concluded Cases |
9,980 |
10,795 |
8.17 |
Back Wages Collected |
$33,902,529 |
$28,395,261 |
-16.24 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
54,403 |
58,971 |
8.40 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$1,770,873 |
$1,378,434 |
-22.16 |
Complaints Registered |
8,921 |
9,915 |
11.14 |
Enforcement Hours |
215,693 |
247,685 |
14.83 |
WHD Midwest Region
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
Concluded Cases |
9,101 |
8,641 |
-5.05 |
Back Wages Collected |
$27,989,522 |
$33,042,373 |
18.05 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
52,277 |
48,790 |
-6.67 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,712,020 |
$2,008,853 |
-25.93 |
Complaints Registered |
7,087 |
7,035 |
-0.73 |
Enforcement Hours |
173,029 |
185,292 |
7.09 |
WHD Southwest Region
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
Concluded Cases |
5,609 |
6,203 |
10.59 |
Back Wages Collected |
$20,650,898 |
$35,842,259 |
73.56 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
38,809 |
58,552 |
50.87 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$2,457,107 |
$1,691,518 |
-31.16 |
Complaints Registered |
4,923 |
5,424 |
10.18 |
Enforcement Hours |
161,237 |
176,050 |
9.19 |
WHD Western Region
WHD Enforcement Statistics—All Acts |
FY2001 |
FY2002 |
Percent Change |
Concluded Cases |
4,285 |
4,913 |
14.66 |
Back Wages Collected |
$18,982,739 |
$31,835,691 |
67.71 |
Employees Receiving Back Wages |
29,747 |
36,100 |
21.36 |
Civil Money Penalties Assessed |
$1,122,085 |
$1,458,109 |
29.95 |
Complaints Registered |
2,547 |
3,002 |
17.86 |
Enforcement Hours |
180,603 |
181,776 |
0.65 |
1 Concluded cases include cases initiated as a result of a complaint and self-directed
cases initiated by the agency. About 74 percent of all concluded cases in fiscal year 2002 were based on a complaint.
This is slightly higher than the 69 percent in fiscal year 2001.
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