The Department of Labor recently announced it will seek to add 100 new investigators to its team to investigate company pay practices. 

This means the DOL will likely be cracking down on issues relating to whether companies are paying overtime, whether companies should be paying overtime, classification of employees and medical leave of absence from work.

It is important to make sure you are not unintentionally  making mistakes on these things. The DOL investigates companies of all sizes (big and small). They typically receive a complaint directly from your employee, and in most situations, the company is required to turn over a LOT of financial and business information. It is best to keep the DOL out of your business records, so make sure to consult with an employment lawyer to make sure you are in compliance with the law.

1. Make sure proper posters are displayed and distributed
2. Make sure your employees are properly classified as employee or independent contractor
3. Make sure you are not paying hourly employees a salary to avoid paying overtime.
4. Make sure you are not taking the employees tips or allowing tips to be shared if not part of a proper tip pool.

If a company is found to be in violation, it can owe back wages for all employees effected, punitive damages, liquidated damages and also be required to correct the violation. 

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