The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) recently announced it was hiring 100 investigators and planned “vigorous” enforcement of wage and hour laws in the warehouse and logistics industries. The resulting equation is simple:

More WHD investigators + “Vigorous” enforcement = More WHD investigations

All employers – especially those that employ warehouse workers, delivery drivers, or truck drivers – should prepare for more WHD investigations. These investigations are often costly. In 2021, the vast majority (approximately 80 percent) of investigations resulted in the WHD finding the employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), and employees who received back wages were paid, on average, nearly $1,000.

You cannot avoid a WHD investigation, but you can mitigate the chances and burden of an investigation. The majority of the WHD’s investigations start because of a complaint from employees. The remaining minority of investigations are directed normally at targeted industries. In this case, the WHD has announced that it is focusing its efforts on warehouse and logistics employers.

While you cannot eliminate the risk of an investigation, there are three easy-to-implement ways to mitigate the risk and burden of an investigation:

• Keep the required payroll records. You will not fare well if you tell a WHD investigator that you do not have records that employers are required by law to maintain. The most frequent (and problematic) records missing are...

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