< Library - Employment Law          
Wage Claims, Overtime & Other Employee Compensation

CAN THE GOVERNMENT HELP YOU RECOVER UNPAID WAGES OR OVERTIME?
(Taking the Initiative In Today’s Recessionary Times)

     The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently did a study on the performance of the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The WHD is essentially tasked with enforcing federal laws on minimum wage and overtime. When a labor complaint is made, the WHD’s usual responses would range between calling the employer to conducting a comprehensive investigation on an employer’s labor violations.

     GAO went undercover and over a period of several months, GAO investigators filed ten fictitious complaints with WHD’s district offices across the country, posing as both the employees and the employers. GAO’s investigation revealed slow response times, a poor complaint intake process, failed conciliation attempts, and inadequately investigated claims. Of the ten complaints that were made, only one was successfully resolved. The report also revealed that several of the WHD's regional offices and staff were directed to only record successful complaint resolutions in its database, making WHD statistics appear better than they were. GAO also found that, because of the lack of resources and staff, investigations of wage theft and child labor violations were often delayed by months or years. WHD’s frequently inadequate response to complaints left low wage workers vulnerable to wage theft.

     In response to GAO’s investigation and report, current Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, released a statement saying that the WHD "has already begun the process of adding 150 new investigators to its field offices to refocus the agency on these enforcement responsibilities. In addition, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the agency will hire 100 investigators to ensure that contractors on stimulus projects are in compliance with the applicable laws."

     The above issues and developments may involve only federal labor agencies and impact only labor claims on the federal level. However, California’s own Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), which enforces California’s laws on wages, is also faced with the same issues as its federal counterpart. The DLSE has admitted that its enforcement actions are normally hindered by a lack of resources. It takes money to investigate and pursue claims – money which is certainly scarce these days. Thus, the DLSE may not be able to handle every single claim that comes through its doors. More often than not, the DLSE may encourage employees who are claiming large amounts of unpaid wages to get an attorney.

     Because of limited government help, it is important for the employee to be resourceful in seeking private attorneys. Some employees hesitate to talk to lawyers for fear that lawyers may charge them upfront. Others are concerned that some confidential information may be disclosed.

     However, information on employee rights can be obtained without cost. Our law firm, for instance, allows the employee to call our office and make a no-cost inquiry. Information on the caller’s wage claims are treated with strictest confidentiality. After evaluating an inquiry and we believe that the matter is something that the law firm can handle, we agree to take the case. We then advance the valuable time and the litigation costs required. The law firm gets paid only if the employee recovers money or wins the case. Meanwhile, the employee does not have to worry about paying any money in advance to prosecute his or her wage claims.

     In this time of economic downturn, employees must take on the initiative of enforcing their employment rights. As I have seen in my 22 years of litigation experience, people don’t get what they deserve, they get what they fight for!

© Law Offices C. Joe Sayas, Jr.