The U.S. Department of Labor’s wage enforcement arm, the Wage and Hour Division, assessed nearly $26 million in fines against employers in 2023, marking the highest on record in a decade according to data from the Department of Labor. At the same time, the enforcement arm accomplished a record low number of enforcement actions, Bloomberg reported.
The Wage and Hour Division, which is responsible for overseeing federal minimum wage, child labor, overtime, and other labor laws, carried out 20,215 compliance actions, and secured roughly $212.3 million in back wages in the 2023 fiscal year. These numbers are in line with figures from the previous fiscal year which saw 20,422 actions and approximately $213.1 million recovered in back wages, but they also signify the lowest enforcement year since at least 2013.
These recent data raise questions about the reasons behind both the increase in fines against employers and the decrease in enforcement action. Further details in this development are anticipated as the legal and corporate world dig deeper into these figures, opening important conversations on regulatory enforcement and compliance approaches.