As Wage hour continues to make investigations, the following is an update on dealing with Wage Hour procedures during an investigation.

Since Wage Hour has approximately 750 investigators nationwide, they normally are able to investigate only one-half of covered firms in a given year. However, you may be one of the “lucky” ones and become scheduled for an investigation.  First, you should understand that Wage Hour has the authority to investigate any employer they choose and they do not have to disclose the reason for the investigation.  However, nearly all investigations are conducted because Wage Hour has received information that the employer may not be paying employees correctly; Wage Hour has received information that the employer is employing minors (contrary to child labor requirements); or the employer is in a “targeted” industry. Investigations vary in length due to several factors, including the size of the business, complexities of the firm’s pay plan, and schedules of both the employer and the investigator.  Some investigations may be completed in a day, while others may take months.

Wage Hour also has an informal procedure, known as a conciliation, where they will phone (or write) an employer stating that an employee has alleged he/she was not paid properly.  They ask the employer to look into the allegation and report back to them.  If the parties can resolve the issue through this “conciliation” process, Wage Hour will not come to the establishment and conduct a full investigation.  If the problem is related to a group of employees or a department, in many instances Wage Hour will ask the employer to rectify the problem with that group of employees rather than instituting a full investigation.