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Category: Agency Enforcement

Whistleblower Activity Under Federal Laws Increased in FY 2023

Federal agencies that enforce whistleblower laws report an across-the-board increase in tips and complaints alleging unlawful activity by employers, as well as an increase in complaints alleging unlawful retaliation against whistleblowing employees, fiscal year 2023 statistics show. The four government agencies are the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Inflation Fuels Higher Civil Penalties for Federal Workplace Law Violations in 2024

To account for inflation, various federal workplace enforcement agencies recently raised the civil penalties they charge. The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the Inflation Adjustment Act) mandates these yearly adjustments. This memo details employment- and immigration-related penalty increases announced by the Department of Labor (DOL), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Department of...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

What’s With the Big Increase Recently in EEOC “Commissioner Charges”?

Enforcement data recently released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) show that Commissioners once again heavily used their authority to launch discrimination investigations by filing Commissioner charges. Commissioners filed 35 new Commissioner charges in FY 2023, eclipsing last year’s 20-year record of 29 such charges and wildly surpassing the three Commissioner charges filed in each of FY 2020 and...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL’s Release of FMLA/FLSA Enforcement Data Shows Little Change From Previous Year

Enforcement statistics related to the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act do not show much change from fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023, according to data published by the Labor Department’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The data showed that in FY 2023, WHD closed 334 cases in which it found an FMLA...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Audits, Financial Recoveries Increased Notably in FY 2023

There were notable increases in the number of audits conducted by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and the monetary remedies it obtained in 2023, according to an analysis of OFCCP data performed by the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association. OFCCP completed 1,056 supply-and-service (i.e., non-construction) compliance evaluation audits in fiscal year (FY) 2023, a...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

Latest Annual NLRB Enforcement Numbers Show Another Sharp Increase in ULP Charges Filed

The number of unfair labor practice (ULP) charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) by workers and their union representatives has increased by 30% over the last two years, according to NLRB enforcement data. The 19,869 ULP charges filed in FY 2023 are the highest number of charges filed since FY 2016. The NLRB’s annual enforcement...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Financial Settlement Update – November 2023

The Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced a large batch of financial settlements that it reached with federal contractors during the push to resolve pending investigations by the end of the 2023 fiscal year. Since early October, OFCCP has posted sixteen financial settlements, representing roughly $8 million in awards to victims of alleged discrimination. This...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

CWC’s Side-by-Side Analysis of OFCCP’s New Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing

In August, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) began using a more burdensome Scheduling Letter and Itemized Listing to notify federal contractors when they are flagged for a compliance evaluation. Federal contractors that are flagged for an audit under the new letter should be prepared to provide a great deal more information than OFCCP previously...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

DOL and FTC Formally Agree To Share Compliance-Related Information

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which they agreed to collaborate on matters for which they share enforcement responsibilities. These include worker misclassification, restrictive contract provisions, non-compete agreements, and unlawful wage-setting practices. Under the MOU, the agencies will share information, cross-train staff, and partner on compliance...
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Category: Agency Enforcement

OFCCP Financial Settlement Update – October 2023

The Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, presents its latest update on major financial settlements that the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)has announced since January. Since then, OFCCP has posted 12 new financial settlements, awarding more than $2 million to victims of alleged discrimination. This latest round of announced settlements brings monetary...

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