Dive Transient:
- The U.S. authorities recovered $259 million in again wages for nearly 177,000 staff throughout fiscal yr 2025, the U.S. Division of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division introduced on Thursday.
- That is essentially the most recovered since 2019, the company mentioned; this restoration averages to about $1,465 per employee, in line with a DOL evaluation. Whereas the quantity recovered in again wages hit a peak, the company concluded fewer compliance actions total, with slightly below 17,000 concluded in comparison with 17,300 in 2024.
- Curiously, some compliance consultants see AI as a possible ache level for wage and hour violations in 2026.
Dive Perception:
WHD breaks down again wage restoration into a number of classes, together with Honest Labor Requirements Act and Household and Medical Depart Act violations. Extra particularly, FLSA restoration reached over $184 million in 2025, in comparison with slightly below $150 million in 2024.
Wage and Hour Division Administrator Andrew Rogers thanked DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer and President Donald Trump on Thursday, stating that, beneath their management, DOL has been implementing legal guidelines “totally and pretty to advertise equal competitors for all job creators whereas defending the rights and earnings of American staff.”
Moreover, the DOL boasted “improved” compliance sources, together with up to date movies offering FLSA training and an FMLA YouTube collection.
The press launch saying the information additionally highlighted its revamped opinion letter program and Payroll Audit Impartial Willpower operate, which gives staff with the chance to “self-report and resolve potential minimal wage and time beyond regulation violations” beneath the FLSA and FMLA.
Sure sectors — what DOL calls “low wage, excessive violation” industries — have been over-represented within the information. For instance, the meals providers trade had 4,088 violations resolved in 2025, with WHD recovering over $42 million in again wages. Likewise, the healthcare trade had 2,370 violations resolved in 2025, with WHD recovering greater than $53 million in again wages there.
Aside from DOL enforcement of wage and hour regulation, what else ought to HR or inner authorized counsel be mindful?
Attorneys at Fisher Phillips forecasted a number of potential 2026 wage and hour developments, together with an uptick in lawsuits alleging violations of the Portal-to-Portal Act. Particularly over the past 5 years, extra courts have been outlining the parameters of the PTPA; retailers and people with warehouse presences have been on the middle of alleged violations, attorneys mentioned.
Attorneys additionally talked about rising minimal wage flooring for various cities and states, in addition to elevated WHD steerage by way of opinion letters.
FP attorneys foresee AI complicating wage and hour points — particularly in how staff are categorized as coated by or exempt from the FLSA.
