Workers who do not trust the manager to keep track of their salaries can now do it yourself with a new smart phone application with the Ministry of Labour. But employers fear that the implementation of time sheets, with other new initiatives to promote greater wage and hour lawsuits.
The application calculates the working hours of regular workers, break time and overtime pay to create their own pay stubs. Chamber officials say the information could be useful in a dispute over compensation or under a government investigation when the employer failed to keep accurate records.
“This program helps to increase employees understand and defend their rights when employers have banned the hard-earned pay,” the Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said.
App is the latest example of the Obama push for a more aggressive wage and hour laws. The Agency has hired some scientists to probe more than 300 complaints of unpaid work for failing to pay overtime and minimum wage violations.
Last year, the agency has launched a “bridge to justice” for the first time to communicate with injured workers in the private bar if wages and hours of the Division of the Department is too busy to handle a complaint .
Consequently, legal experts say, the respect of wages and time has become a major concern for employers and help drive new political settlements of disputes over unpaid wages, also known as wage theft.
“The government focuses on it like never before,” said Gerald Maatman, a lawyer by the employer side based in Chicago. “I think the mantra is a kind of” Any application, continuously, 24 / 7 ”
The workers brought a record number of wage and hour suits against employers last year, according to an analysis of court filings is a strong Maatman, Seyfarth Shaw. Nearly 6,800 such suits were filed in 2010 in about 700 more than last year. Most were class actions or class.
“The problem is that the Ministry of Labor puts a lot more attention in this area and employers at the same time, put in more hours, more money and more work on the audit and compliance with wage and hour laws,” said Maatman . “This is becoming something of a full-time job.”
The increased enforcement is a change from the Bush administration, while some have accused the secretary of President George W. Bush ‘s labor, Elaine Chao, to benefit businesses and weaken job security and enforcement.
Although employers are not surprised by the increased scrutiny, have questioned some of the tactics, such as a program that provides employees with toll-free number to contact a lawyer referral service manages the American Bar Association.
The Wage and Hour Division receives over 35,000 calls a year to help and do not have the resources to meet all demands. For which I can not help it now refers to its free online hot, which can be entrusted to an attorney who specializes in wage and hour disputes.
Michael Kun, a lawyer from employment management in Los Angeles, calls the program “a gift to the plaintiff’s counsel.”
“A DOL investigator has no interest in pursuing claims worth less,” just said. “Advocate of the applicant’s interest to do so to obtain some sort of nuisance value.”
Patricia Smith, a lawyer top Ministry of Labour, said the criticism was taken by surprise. Before the bridge justice program, the department has told employees they had a private right of action.
“It just gives them know a little more if you want exercise, go to a lawyer who is qualified, instead of using the guy who was advertising on television at midnight,” said Smith.
Nancy Leppink, leading to wage and hour division, said the office is just doing the job he should do, which is after employers to cheat workers out of their hard earned wages.
“Since we have employers who disregard the law, we have an obligation to seek every opportunity we can change this behavior,” said Leppink.
It includes the installation “We can help” advertising campaign last year, is designed to train workers in food, hospitality, apparel, manufacturing and construction on their legal rights under federal wage and hour laws.
Wage theft is especially prevalent among immigrants who do not speak English or be reluctant to challenge their boss for fear of putting their immigration status, labor officials say.
Earlier this year, for example, the Department of $ 1,800,000 in back wages to almost 400 employees in Hong Kong Houston-based grocery market chain. The researchers found some worked up to 70 hours per week but were paid less than minimum wage and denied overtime. Labor officials said the company deliberately misled the investigators of falsifying payroll documents.
A new application for the smartphone is designed to help low-wage migrant workers, many of whom can not afford a computer, but keep the phone and saving the family home.
The application is available for iPhone and iPod Touch, but the agency is exploring options for use in other devices, including Blackberry and Android smart phones.