Hot Topics in Employment Law
HOT TOPIC OF THE WEEK:
Don’t go through a U.S. Dept. of Labor audit alone!!
The City of Denver is starting to audit its contractors (Denver Post, 12/3/09 1A) Verifying legal status of your workers through E-Verify is only a fraction of the concern for employers. The status of your workers: whether a subcontractor, independent contractor, employee, part-time or volunteer; the hours worked and classification of work performed; working conditions; payroll records and payment methods are among the many things to be scrutinized and reviewed by the DOL Wage and Hour Division during an investigation and audit. DOL’s Secretary of Labor Hilda – S. Solis considers their “outreach plans” successful. The DOL’s 2010 outreach plans included the hiring of many additional investigators and will likely result in a greater number of enforcement actions being pursued by the DOL against employers. Within the last three months, DOL has collected almost $2 million in back wages for more than 500 workers.
Reviewing your wage payment program, overtime practices, worker status, job descriptions and classifications, personnel policies and procedures, along with compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and Colorado state law should be completed with a competent, legal professional, experienced in the area. Our firm has represented employers through these DOL audits with great success in reducing penalties and back wage collection actions. Let us help you!