The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Industrial Compliance recently upgraded its manual wage and hour complaint process to a paperless process, which allows workers to file complaints more easily with the division, resulting in shorter intake time and faster return time for those owed wages.
The Bureau of Wage & Hour Administration housed within the Division of Industrial Compliance administers and enforces Ohio’s Minimum Wage Laws, Ohio’s Minor Labor Law and Ohio’s Prevailing Wage Law. The bureau investigates complaints, including those of overtime not being paid, last paychecks being held, minors not receiving proper rest breaks, and prevailing wage not being paid for public projects.
“Leveraging technology to better serve Ohioans is the number one priority of the Department of Commerce,” said Commerce Director Sherry Maxfield. “We identified the opportunity to upgrade the division’s database to a cloud-based system, which allowed for more streamlined wage and hour processes, including a paperless complaint process. We’ve seen an increase in complaints since the functionality went live this spring, which we attribute to the ease and accessibility of the new process.”
From Jan. 1 through April 4 of this year, the bureau received 114 paper complaints. Since the online process went live in April the bureau received just over 500 complaints, marking an approximate 192-percent increase in complaints received each month.
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