Employers should seek more time to compile their wage and hour records and complete an internal or legal review of the records before providing them to a wage and hour investigator. But employers too often hand over their records to investigators without first reviewing them for compliance, according to James Coleman, a lawyer with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete in Fairfax, Va., and Washington, D.C.
Organizations should obtain legal advice before furnishing records and data to the investigator, he noted. “State and federal agencies that investigate wage and hour compliance often provide very short notice of an investigation, but in almost all cases they can be convinced to allow more time for the gathering and compiling of records by the employer,” Coleman said.
Other common errors employers make during U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and state audits, according to Coleman, include:
“Be cooperative, but don’t give away the store,” said Steven Suflas, an attorney with Holland & Hart in Salt Lake City.
Wage and hour investigators “are overworked and underpaid,” he said. “They almost always react better to an employer that treats them professionally and politely. Remember that they want to finish the audit as...
Grace Kang has worked as an attorney specializing in intellectual property and business law for 20 years, the last 16 in the greater Los Angeles area. A graduate of Stanford Law School, she said h...