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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has issued new internal guidance that significantly changes its approach to administrative settlements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). In Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) No. 2025-3, Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Donald M. Harrison rescinded FAB 2021-2, issued under the Biden Administration, which authorized WHD to pursue liquidated (or double) damages against employers at the administrative investigation stage.
As a matter of agency policy, the acting administrator prohibits the agency’s regional solicitors (RSOLs) from seeking liquidated damages, except when the WHD pursues an enforcement action in court.
According to the FAB, the FLSA does not authorize the agency to pursue liquidated damages when supervising payments to workers in administrative (pre-litigation) proceedings under Sec. 216(c). Rather, employees can recover liquidated damages only through a judicial proceeding pursuant to FLSA Sec. 216(b).
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