Skip to main content

Department of Labor Extends PAID Program An Additional Six Months


Earlier this year, I made note of the Department of Labor’s Payroll Audit Independent Determination (‘PAID’) program which would allow employers to self report and remedy wage and hour violations without penalty, so long as employers got their ‘aggrieved’ employees their owed back pay and the employer was not a prior offender.  The PAID program went into effect April 3rd and was set to be in place for approximately six months before the Department of Labor would review the program to determine whether to extend, modify, or terminate it completely.  Critics quickly argued it was nothing more than a ‘get out of jail free’ card for some employers that failed to actually curtail wage and hour violators.  However, advocates of the PAID program pointed out that it remedied unpaid wage issues without an extended delay and did not require employees to shoulder legal fees to fight for the wages they were owed.

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor announced it would extend the PAID program for an additional six months.  Readers are likely wondering whether the program has achieved its desired impact.  From internal reports, it appears that in the initial six months of the program, approximately nine employees participated with unpaid wages totaling more than $500,000.00.  While the Department of Labor had not set any specific benchmarks for what would/would not be considered a success for the program, these initial numbers seem promising.  Of course, critics will likely still argue that while these apparent numbers are a good start, the PAID program still fails to get at the root of the problem when it comes to employers not paying their employees the full wages due and owing.  Regardless, it will be interesting to see what numbers are reported after the close of this next six month period.


For additional information:  https://www.allongeorgia.com/national-news/u-s-depart-of-labor-announces-record-304m-in-recovered-wages-for-workers-in-fiscal-year-2018/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more