The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is recovering an increasing number of damages in overtime claims, as it goes after employers that are misclassifying workers or miscalculating overtime.

"I think the Biden administration has signaled a shift in focus away from compliance and toward enforcement," said Joseph Harris, an attorney with A.Y. Strauss in New York City. "One of the earliest indications of that shift was the termination of the Department of Labor's PAID [Payroll Audit Independent Determination] program, shortly after President Biden took office." The PAID program allowed businesses to self-report federal minimum wage and overtime violations in an effort to avoid litigation under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Recent DOL Actions

The DOL recently has recovered:

• $867,572 in owed tips and overtime to 910 workers in Texas who weren't paid the correct time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
• $731,492 in overtime back wages for 337 Texas sanitation workers who were paid a straight daily rate even though they often worked more than 40 hours per week.
• $196,350 in overtime back wages for 55 workers at six locations in Virginia. The employer was found to have failed to pay the tipped employees the proper overtime premium of time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek.

"The department has announced that it will be hiring 100 new wage-hour investigators," Harris said. "Although the federal Department of Labor is important to watch, employers would...

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