It is no surprise that breweries can feel overwhelmed by the numerous legal obligations and responsibilities they face on a day-to-day basis at the federal, state and local level. A good place to start – especially in an employee-friendly state like Massachusetts – is compliance with pay and recordkeeping obligations. Good recordkeeping can keep you out of trouble, so make that part of your spring cleaning goals for this year.
A variety of state and federal laws govern a brewery’s duty to maintain records, including records relating to its employees. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) is responsible for enforcing the federal law that governs minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor. In Massachusetts, it is the Fair Labor Division of the Attorney General’s Office (“FLD”) that is responsible for enforcing these laws at the state level. Failure to keep the proper records or to pay your employees correctly can lead to hefty fines and penalties, including even double or triple the amount of actual damages.
One method that the WHD and FLD use to enforce these laws is conducting audits to confirm whether a brewery has met all of its recordkeeping and pay obligations. These audits may be random or could result directly from a complaint filed with one of these entities. An audit can involve reviewing a significant amount of your company records, often over a two- or three-year period, as well as employee interviews to allow the...
Blow the whistle, get paid. A Justice Department bounty program that incentivizes employees to blow the whistle on their employers could lead to more whistleblowing as the Trump administration inte...