Labor Dept. Slammed for Mishandling Wage Violation Cases

Through lax enforcement and the mishandling of cases, the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division is allowing employers to get away with wage theft, according to a report released this week by the General Accountability Office.

In case after case, the GAO singled out the agency for turning its back on workers. One mishandled case involved a truck driver who said he wasn't paid overtime even though he worked 55 hours a week. The agency waited 17 months to assign an investigator and then dropped the case – without any investigation – because the two-year statute of limitations was set to expire. In another, the agency concluded that an assisted care facility worker was wrongfully denied $4,500 in wages, but dropped the case after the employer pleaded, in August 2006, that it was in dire shape and could not afford to pay the back wages. The employer is still in business, according to the GAO.

GAO faulted the agency for sharply reducing the number of enforcement actions it pursues against employers, falling some 37 percent from 2006 to 2007.