Call the doctor: 9 tips for conducting wage and hour checkups

We visit the doctor and the optometrist once a year and our dentists at least twice a year. Why? We attend the appointments not because they’re necessarily fun but because they’re vital for maintaining good health and wellness. They provide assurance that if things aren’t so good, we have the chance to correct course. All too often, however, our businesses don’t undergo similar compliance checkups, especially in the wage and hour field, where audits are vitally needed.

Hefty penalties, back wages looming

Recent media stories about the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) investigations into LaBelle Winery and Dos Amigos are uncomfortably prescient. Going through a USDOL or a New Hampshire Department of Labor (NHDOL) investigation isn’t enjoyable, but it’s worse when hefty penalties and back wages lurk on the other side. Federal lawsuits filed by employees over the failure to pay wages are often worse given the litigation’s adversarial nature and the threat of liquidated damages and the payment of mandatory attorneys’ fees. Class actions are in a class of their own.

Many wage and hour violations can be identified and cured with periodic compliance monitoring. Trust when I say that correcting a violation in advance is far healthier for your bottom line than defending an unlawful practice in court. Wage cases often aren’t a question of win or lose but rather of how much.