Insights
Leanne Lane Coyle Examines the Impact of DOL's Increased Enforcement Efforts for The Legal Intelligencer
In the March 25, 2022 article, "US Department of Labor ‘Beefing Up’ Enforcement Efforts," for The Legal Intelligencer, Leanne Lane Coyle co-authored an article that examined the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Specifically, the authors examine the Act's increased allocation for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for "worker protection agencies" and the DOL's corresponding increase in enforcement efforts. This includes newly hired investigators for the DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), strengthening inter-agency collaboration on enforcement, and a campaign to raise awareness of retaliation claims in the workplace, among other initiatives.
The author notes:
"With the DOL’s increased enforcement efforts, employers should evaluate their compliance programs and make necessary modifications, particularly with respect to the retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by revisiting policies and consistently enforcing them, educating and training managers and employees, investigating and remedying any violations, and auditing worker classification and overtime.