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Department of Labor’s ‘Amnesty’ Program For Owed Back Wages Takes Effect April 3rd


For those that have not been following the recent news from the Department of Labor, a recent ‘amnesty’ program was announced in which employers would be given an opportunity to self report wage and hour violations, without legal consequences, so long as employers get back pay to affected workers and the employers are not prior offenders themselves.  

The program, known as the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program (‘PAID’) has been pushed by Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta as an opportunity for all parties to benefit:  Employers can immediately remedy any wage and hour violations they have (without fear of penalty) while workers will be entitled to receive any back pay they are due.

However, critics of the program have repeatedly referred to it as a ‘get out of jail free’ cars for employers that does not get to the actual root of the problem:  alleged repeated and systemic wage and hour violations that reestedly go unchecked.  Opponents of the PAID program have instead urged the Department of Labor to implement better policies to ‘catch’ employers in the act rather than giving them an out with this program. 

The PAID program, set to go into effect on April 3rd, will be in place for six months.  Thereafter, it will be revaluated before the Department of Labor decides whether continue with the program, make changes, or end it entirely.


For additional information:  https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20180306

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